What to fight for
by Cassandra.Fan
Summary: Sophitia has become the new host for Soul Edge, and Algol sealed Soul Calibur within Cassandra's body. Now she and Siegfried journey to bring an end to this conflict, but the girl's heart is filled with confusion. Can she overcome her doubts?
1. Prologue

Well I decided to begin my first CassxSieg story. I know that there's a lot that needs explaining, but I promise you, that'll be covered in the next chapters to come. Here's the prologue!

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Prologue

Siegfried could not believe what was happening. The power of the spirit sword, Soul Calibur, was going out of control. He could not even approach the sword, for its brilliant light was way too bright. Then, all of a sudden, the ground began to crystallize.

_"No. . . I only want to rid myself and my unforgivable past, not the world was well!"_

Suddenly, a man with long white hair, golden eyes and unusual bird-like clothing walked up to Siegfried's side. Within the man's arm was an unconscious girl. Siegfried recognized the girl as the younger sister of the oracle of Hephaestus.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

The man beside him looked down to the girl with his arms with a look of despair.

"Everyone in this world will die because of this sword. I created that sword for good, but instead I created something very dangerous. I must use this girl's body as a vessel. I won't leave this world without doing something to try to eliminate the evil!"

The man then laid down the girl near the spirit sword and shouted, "Soul Calibur! Sword that I have created to destroy Soul Edge! I, Algol, shall seal you away within this young girl. You shall not unleash your power, and when the time is right, you shall be sealed with the evil sword for all eternity!"

Suddenly, the sword transformed into a bright light and was transported into the girl's body, which shocked Siegfried. When that was finished, Algol weakly bent down, picked up the girl and slowly turned towards Siegfried. When he approached the knight, he placed the girl's body in Siegfried's arms. Suddenly Algol collapsed, bringing Siegfried down with him.

"My time is approaching . . ."

The Hero king then stroked the back of his fingers on the girl's cheek.

"Young girl. Destiny has been so harsh on you, taking your beloved sister and making her the new host for Soul Edge. But I believe that you can free her and seal both the evil sword and the sword that I have placed within your soul. I know that I'm placing such a great burden upon on your shoulders, and therefore . . . I am truly sorry."

Algol then looked at Siegfried. The knight saw that his end was drawing near.

"Please . . . protect her. . ."

Suddenly, the king fell to his right and collapsed on the floor head up. He then looked to the sky.

"Arcturus . . . I'm coming to join you . . ."

He then closed his eyes and breathed his last. The Hero king was dead. Suddenly, his body disappeared and pyreflies began to float around before they vanished as well. Siegfried watched all of this with a shock on his face. He then looked down at the face of the girl, and finally to the sky.

Silently, the knight walked far away from the tower. Suddenly he heard a loud crash behind him. He turned around and saw that the tower was collapsing.

"I don't know who in the world that man was, other than that he created the swords."

He then looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms.

"But I swear, I will keep his promise. I will protect this girl with my life. I will not die, until I see the day that the swords will finally rest in peace."

He then continued forward. However, he was unaware that a female ninja in red was watching him from a cliff.

"So . . . he finally opens his eyes."

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Okay, so the girl is Cassandra, and her sister, Sophitia, is the new host for Soul Edge. I'll explain how that happened how that happened in the next chapters. Please review!


	2. A Broken Heart

A lot of things will be explained here. Enjoy!

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Chapter 1: A Broken Heart

_Cassandra rushed as fast as she could to the top of the tower. She could hear the clashing of swords and felt trembling beneath her feet. She also saw the dead bodies of the Azure Knight and three of his minions: a girl with wacky black hair and unusual clown-like clothing, a huge gigantic monster, and an unusual looking man. But Cassandra had no time to examine them. She had to convince herself that the ninja in red was lying to her about what she was told: that her own sister, Sophitia, was a servant of Soul Edge._

* * *

_**Earlier: outside the tower**_

_"No! You're lying! Sophitia knows better! She would never do such a thing!"_

_The young Athenian glared with anger at the ninja before her. She just couldn't believe what the woman told her. There was just no way was her older sister a servant of Soul Edge._

_"I'm afraid that my words are true. For the past few months, your older has been committing evil deeds to strengthen the power of the evil sword."_

_"That's a lie!"_

_"If you truly believe that what I'm saying to you now is false, then why don't you go inside the tower and see for yourself. She is up there right now, even as we speak."_

_Suddenly, the ninja disappeared in an instant. Cassandra was startled at first, but then she looked up to the top of the tower. It was a long way up, but her sister was most likely there. She had to find her and some answers._

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_**End of flashback**_

_Eventually she made it to the top. She suddenly gasped as she saw what was before her. It was her sister, Sophitia, but not as she remembered her. Her tunic that was usually white was now dark red. The same went for her arming and leggings. Also, her usual golden blond hair was darker than before. But the most shocking thing was what was in her hands. It was none other than the evil sword Soul Edge. At that moment, she was fighting a man, who looked quite unusual. He had white hair that was in a very unusual way, and fierce yellow eyes. His attire was very odd, as if he came from some sort of ancient civilization. Within his hands was the sword that was opposite to Soul Edge. It was none other than Soul Calibur._

_But Cassandra just couldn't believe it. The ninja was telling the truth the whole. "It . . . can't be . . . Sophitia . . .?"_

_Suddenly she heard someone grunting on her right. She turned and saw a young knight with long blond hair, who was struggling to get up from the ground. He appeared to be badly beaten by someone._

_"Yeah . . . I was pretty surprised myself. She's now . . . the host of Soul Edge."_

_The young girl turned back to her sister, who was still fighting the man with the spirit sword. They were clashing their swords with each other fiercely. After some time, the man pointed Soul Calibur at Sophitia._

_"Foolish woman! You don't know how to master the power of that sword! You're clearly not worthy to even wield it!"_

_"I will never give Soul Edge to you! With the power of this sword, I'll protect the life of my child. Once I destroy that blade of yours, Pyrrha will not die!"_

_"Hah! Soul Edge was meant for me to use to rule this world for eternity! How could it possibly protect your child?"_

_Sophitia turned to her side with a sad look on her face. "No could ever understand. My child was infected with the power of Soul Edge when she was born. It caused her to go mad whenever she got near a fragment of this sword. And then . . . she became unable to live . . . without the influence of Soul Edge. That is why . . . I must hold on to this sword to ensure that Pyrrha lives! If you had a child that was about to die, what would you do?! That's the problem with all of you! You don't understand anything I'm going through!"_

_Cassandra couldn't believe it. Pyrrha would die without Soul Edge's influence? Was that the reason why she became a servant of the evil sword? How can all of this happening?_

_Sophitia then charged up the evil sword and her eyes glowed with a blood red light. "That is why . . . I will take down everyone who stands in my way!"_

_She then ran to man with lightning speed. In an instant, she attacked him wildly with fast slashes. At first, the man blocked each attack, but then Sophitia began to overpower him and was kneeling on the ground, blocking each incoming attack. Realizing that he had to do something, the man charged up Soul Calibur and fought back. The battle ensued even more, and they both delivered even more devastating attacks to each other._

_After blocking one attack from Sophitia, Algol smirked. "Hmph. It seems I've misjudged you a bit. You've become really skilled with that sword .But I will still get that sword back!"_

_Charging up Soul Calibur once more, he slammed it down to the ground, creating a path of ice that was heading for Sophitia. But the oracle slashed Soul Edge, destroying all of it in an instant. The man was caught off guard and he lost his hold on the spirit sword. Taking advantage, Sophitia rushed to him and stabbed him in the chest. In an instant, the man fell to his knees in agonizing pain. He could not believe that he was defeated. He looked at Sophitia as she pointed Soul Edge to his neck._

_"Forgive me . . . but this is good-bye."_

_But as she was about to thrust the sword, she was tackled down from her right side. As she recovered, she saw that it was none other than her younger sister._

_"Cassandra? Why have you come?"_

_"I'm the one who should be asking questions! How in the world did Pyrrha become unable to survive without Soul Edge? And couldn't you have thought of another way to save her?!"_

_"Enough! You don't understand the pain that I'm going through! No one does!"_

_Suddenly Sophitia charged to Cassandra. The younger quickly picked up Soul Calibur and blocked her sister's attack. She looked deep into Sophitia's eyes and saw that she was slowly but gradually being consumed with insanity. If she could not find a way to save her, the darkness will consume all of her heart. Drawing back, she quickly blocked the incoming attacks from her sister. When Sophitia tried to take her down with a slash of energy, Cassandra quickly ducked and dodged each one. She had to think of something and fast._

_Suddenly, Cassandra was caught off guard, and Sophitia swung Soul Edge at her, knocking the younger sister away. "It seems that you will stand in my way as well. Then I will destroy you as well!"_

_As she charged up Soul Edge, Cassandra slowly got up, with Soul Calibur still in her hands. "Sis, I love you . . . with all of my heart . . . But . . . I don't have any other choice . . ."_

_All of a sudden, Soul Calibur began to glow with a radiant light. Both the man and the knight were amazed at its intense brightness. Sophitia and Cassandra then rushed towards each other. As their swords clashed, they created a bright light which blinded everyone._

* * *

Cassandra instantly opened her eyes and jolted up, taking really deep breaths. That dream she had was what happened before that bright light. After recovering, she looked around and saw that she was in an unfamiliar bedroom. Also, she was wearing a nice nightgown.

"Where . . . am I?"

"You're in Wolfkrone."

Cassandra turned to her right and saw a young teenage girl in maid's clothes. She had long brown hair and hazel eyes. She was sitting on a chair near the bed with a light green dress in her lap.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Juliane. Princess Hilde assigned me to be your maidservant for as long as you stay here."

"But . . . how did I . . . get here?"

"You were brought here by a knight named Siegfried Schtauffen."

"Who's he?"

Juliane stood up from her chair and readied the dress for Cassandra. "You will be meeting him and Princess Hilde today in the throne room. She requests that you wear this."

Cassandra looked down at her hands with hesitation. She was scared. She did not know exactly how she got here, or this Siegfried Schtauffen. But what choice she had? So she got up and let Juliane help her get ready.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. This Algol defeated you before you could destroy Soul Edge, stealing Soul Calibur in the process. And before he could get his hand on the evil sword, this Sophitia appears and steals it, defeating Algol. Then this girl comes in, fights her sister with Soul Calibur, and somehow the power of the two swords went out of control during the fight."

The princess sat on the throne, looking out to Siegfried, who was kneeling before her. The knight had just told her what happened at the tall tower, and the story was unbelievable.

"Your Highness, what I have just told you is true. Because the power of the spirit sword is dangerous, Algol sealed it within the girl."

"How's that even possible?"

"He's the one . . . who created both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. So I guess he could manipulate their power to do whatever he wanted."

"I see . . ." There was a brief moment of silence before Hilde spoke again. "Siegfried, tell me . . . Is it true that you're one who brought this calamity upon us?"

The knight hesitated a little bit before answering Hilde's question. "Yes. I was the one who was called the Azure Knight."

"Hmph. I'm surprised that you confessed that without hesitation."

"You can deliver any punishment you want on me. I just need to aid the girl on her quest to seal the swords."

Hilde clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, going deep into thought. Then she stood up, picked up her sword and walked up to Siegfried.

"Young knight, there are warriors in this world . . . who place the needs of others before their own. And you are clearly one of them. You've given up everything to gain atonement for your sins, and showed true heroism that was in your heart."

She then tapped his shoulders with her swords. "Therefore, I, Hildegard von Krone, shall give you, Siegfried Schtauffen, a royal pardon for your sins."

The knight looked up to the princess with a small smile on his face. She responded back with a smile as well. Suddenly, they heard the voice of a young girl coming from the door.

"Princess, our guest is here."

They both turned and saw Juliane with the girl standing next to her. Hilde walked up to them and turned to the maidservant. "Thank you Julianne. You may go now."

After the young maidservant left the throne room, the princess turned her attention back to the guest and extended her hand to her. "Greetings, and welcome to Wolfkrone. I am Princess Hilde. May I inquire your name?"

The guest stared at the hand for a moment, then reached out and shook it slowly while giving her answer. "Cassandra. Cassandra Alexandra."

"It's my pleasure to meet you. Allow me to introduce you to Siegfried Schtauffen. He was the one who brought you here."

The knight walked up to the girl and politely bowed. "I'm honored to have finally met you formally."

"Same here . . . Are you really the one who brought me here . . . and the one that I met back at that tower?"

Siegfried nodded slowly then spoke up again. "Cassandra . . . there are a lot of things . . . that I need to tell you."

Then the knight told her everything: the fact that he used to be Nightmare but was freed, that Sophitia killed him and his servants to get her hold on Soul Edge, and that Algol sealed Soul Calibur within her body in his last moments.

"He wanted you to use the power of the spirit sword to seal itself with Soul Edge. He believed that you can save your sister from the curse of the evil sword."

Cassandra silently shook her head and walked towards the balcony. She looked out towards the valley in front of her with sadness in her eyes. "Didn't you hear what Sophitia said about Pyrrha? If Soul Edge is destroyed, then she'll die. How in the world am I supposed to seal the swords away without killing Sophitia's daughter?"

Siegfried and Hilde looked out to her, not able to answer her question. Cassandra continued on. "I don't know what to do now . . . I don't know . . . what to fight for . . ."

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Alrighty! I'll try to upload Ch. 2 as soon as I can. Happy President's Day everyone!


	3. The Red Goddess of Death

Chapter 2: The Red Goddess of Death

Sophitia sat on the throne with Soul Edge by her side. Her hands were clasped together, her elbows on the arm sets, and her legs crossed. Her mind was almost completely consumed by the power of the evil sword. But one thing was clear: the Sophitia that her loved ones knew was gone. The new wielder of the evil sword pondered over the last events at the tower.

After her fight with Cassandra, Sophitia barely escaped the tower with her life. That great power she felt was nothing she experienced before. It was clear. Soul Calibur was extremely powerful, and she had to get rid of it.

"So it seems that my very own sister now has the spirit sword. Do I really have to kill her in order to protect my child?"

"_Of course you do! Why are being so hesitant?"_

She could hear the sinister voice of the evil sword beside her. Ever since their escape, Soul Edge kept on cursing at Sophitia for her failure at destroying Soul Calibur.

_"If you keep at this, you'll never see your wish fulfilled."_

"But I can't . . . kill my own sister . . . I just can't!"

_"Grrh! It seems that I'll do things myself!"_

Suddenly, the eye of Soul Edge began to glow. Sophitia looked to her right and saw the red radiance. Before she could react, she suddenly felt no control of her body as her right hand began to extend towards the evil sword.

"What the-? What's happening to me?"

_"If you won't kill your sister, than I shall do it myself!"_

"What? No!"

Sophitia fought with all of her strength to regain control of her body, but it was no use. The evil had full control of her body. Her hand drew closer and closer to the handle of the sword. Finally, she grabbed hold it, and streams of light passed from the evil eye to Sophitia's right arm. As they got closer to her face, her arm began to transform into a demonic arm.

"No! Please stop!"

_"Too late!"_

Before Sophitia knew it, her whole arm had transformed. Suddenly, the red streams of light went straight for her eyes and entered. In an instant, Soul Edge began to fully consume her mind. Sophitia felt agonizing pain within her mind. She tried to fight back, but it was no use. All of a sudden, her body was consumed in red flames, and she fell down to her knees crying out in agonizing pain. Then the flames cleared, and the former oracle stopped struggling and screaming. She had lost, for Soul Edge was now controlling her body. She slowly got up and looked at herself. She gave a sinister laugh, and her voice was not the sweet, angelic voice she had before. It was the voice of one who's consumed by the insanity of darkness.

"Hmph. This woman is definitely the perfect host for me. There's just no way she can fight back against me. Now I can truly accomplish my goal."

She then walked outside the castle. She knew what to do next. She had to feed the sword with souls. And she knows the perfect place to start.

"It's time for me to pay a visit to this woman's home."

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**A few days later; Athens**

It was nightfall, full of brilliant shining stars. If people saw it, they would've claimed it to be very beautiful, perhaps even a small gift from the gods. But no from Athens would be able to enjoy it . . . for there was no one alive in the city at all.

The city that claimed to be loved by Athena, the goddess of wisdom . . . was now nothing but ruins. All of the buildings were destroyed, and a lot of the city walls were brought down. To make things worse, all of them were on fire, and it wouldn't be long before all of them go down completely in flames. The roads were covered in red by the blood of the slain. The dead bodies of the people of Athens were spread out everywhere; from the streets to the ruins of the buildings. No one was spared.

In one particular house, Sophitia stood over the dead bodies of what used to be her family. Her mother and father, her brother, her husband, and even her son. . . all of them were dead, slain by the new wielder of Soul Edge. When she killed them, she showed no hesitation. They begged for mercy and tried to call her back to her senses, but all of that failed. In an instant, they fell dead, slashed by the evil sword. Now their souls were gone.

Sophitia then walked out of the city. Soul Edge did gain some power thanks to the souls it devoured, but it still wasn't enough. It still needed more power.

"But at least things are going to be a little bit easier now."

She lifted the evil sword high into the air. "From now on, I shall be known . . . as the Red Goddess of Death! Do you hear me gods? I am no longer a pathetic servant of yours! Just you wait! Soon I go up to where all of you are, and I shall feed all your souls to this sword! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

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**Near Athens: On a hillside**

A man could hear the horrifying laughs of the Red Goddess of Death. He had dark brown hair and calm brown eyes. His attire was a Chinese blue outfit, and within his right hand was a red rod. But it wasn't an ordinary rod, for it was the Kali-Yuga, one of the three sacred treasures of the Ling Sheng-Su Temple. Around his neck was a fragment of another sacred treasure, the Dvapara-Yuga.

"Just as I thought. The evil sword has found a new host."

He gripped his pendant with his left hand. "I must hurry and find the second sword." He then took it off his neck and held it high. "Dvapara-Yuga! Show me the way!"

In an instant, a bright green glow shined from the pendant and shot out towards the northwest.

"Seems pretty far to travel . . . but there's no other way. I must hurry!"

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Okay, so the guy there was Kilik, and I wanted to give Sophitia a nickname. I think it really suits her. So yeah, she killed most of her family. Sorry Rothion lovers. :(


	4. Wrath of the Dark Lord

Oh man! I'm so sorry for not uploading my story! I've been kinda busy lately. Anyways, here's the next part!

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Chapter 3: Wrath of the Dark Lord

Two weeks have passed since Cassandra and Siegfried arrived at Wolfkrone. With so much uncertainty lying within the girl's heart, the knight decided that it was best the two of them stay at the castle until she finds an answer for herself. Hilde doubted that she would, with all of the past events that happened to her, but Siegfried refused to give up on her. She had to find her reason, even if it took her a whole lot of time.

From the balcony of the castle, Cassandra looked out to the horizon. The sky was filled with gray clouds, allowing only a few tiny rays of sunlight to seep through. She looked up to the sky and realized that it was cloudy as her heart. She just didn't know what to do.

"It seems that you're having a hard time figuring out the answer, Lady Cassandra."

Cassandra turned around and saw that it was Juliane. She had no idea the maid was there, nor for how long.

"Do you at least have any clue?"

The Athenian turned back to the horizon. "No . . . no matter what I do . . . I can't find my answer . . . I know that if I don't fight Sophitia, then a lot of people would lose their lives to the evil sword. But if I defeat her . . . then she'll-"

"Forgive me, Lady Cassandra, but is this woman truly the same Sophitia that you love with all of your heart?"

Cassandra was startled quite a bit when she heard that question. She slowly turned back to Juliane, unable to answer. The maid continued.

"Think for a moment. Would the Sophitia you love hurt other people for her own desires instead of trying to find a less violent way? Would she truly sacrifice others so that the ones she loved are protected? If not, then is the Sophitia who now holds Soul Edge . . . truly your sister?"

Cassandra stared straight into Juliane's hazel eyes, shocked at all the maid just said. "What are you saying? Are you saying that the sister that I know and love is dead?!"

"I'm not saying she's dead. Rather, she might be under the influence of Soul Edge. If you pick up your blade and fight, you might be able to find a way to free her and save her child."

"But . . . is there-"

Suddenly, there was a huge blast from the walls of the gate. Cassandra turned and saw that there was smoke rising from the gate walls. It looked like someone was attacking Wolfkrone. All of a sudden, Cassandra saw someone flying in the sky, heading right for her. She quickly grabbed Juliane and rolled away, avoiding the attacker. After they quickly got up, the Athenian was shocked when she saw who the attacker was. It was the one who she encountered back in Romania. She was absolutely positive about it. He wore a very dark green jacket and pants with a flowing cape and a white neck collar. All of the metal pieces on him took the form of bats. He had platinum blond hair with eyes that were red as blood.

"So, you're the one who has Soul Calibur sealed within your heart."

Cassandra was shocked when she heard him speak those words. "How did you-"

"Oh I can feel the sword's power flowing from within you. There's no doubt that it's in you. Now do me a favor and come along quietly and I won't hurt you."

The Athenian took a step back. "Like I'll ever go with you!"

"Tch. Why fight? You have no one to protect. From what I've heard, your sister murdered your entire family not too long ago."

Those words stunned Cassandra. _My whole family . . . is dead?! It . . . can't be . . ._

"No . . . You're lying!"

"Hmph. Believe whatever you want. But face it; you're all alone in this world."

Suddenly, he dashed towards the two girls. He knocked Juliane away and grabbed Cassandra by the neck, pinning her against the wall.

"If joining your family in the afterlife is what you're wishing for, then I, Raphael Sorel, shall grant you your wish!"

The vampire then pushed his hand at Cassandra's chest. In an instant, a blue light radiated from the girl's body. Suddenly the sword slowly came out of her, causing agonizing pain. Cassandra yelled at the top of her lungs, for the pain was unbearable. The more the sword came out, the more pain developed.

Raphael smirked. "At last, I shall have the power to create the perfect world!"

But suddenly, someone came from the vampire's side and knocked him away. In an instant, Soul Calibur went straight back into Cassandra's body. Juliane immediately got up and ran to the Athenian.

"Lady Cassandra! Are you alright?!"

Meanwhile, Raphael got back up and saw who knocked him away. It was none other than Siegfried. "How dare you! Now you shall pay with your life!"

The vampire's body suddenly glowed red and a crimson light shot from his body and into the clouds. Before Cassandra, Siegfried, and Juliane knew it, vampires appeared in the sky. Raphael then cried out to them, "My dear servants! You may now feast!"

In an instant, the vampires descended upon the city. They began grabbing the frightened residents and sucking out their blood, killing them in an instant.

Siegfried was horrified. "You won't get away with this!"

He instantly charged at Raphael, but the vampire jumped into the sky and changed into his vampire form. "Sorry, but you'll have to excuse me. My servants and I have some feasting to do." Raphael then turned to Cassandra. "Mark my words, girl. That sword within shall one day be mine!" He then flapped his demonic wings and joined his servants.

The knight cursed. "We have to stop him! Cassandra, let's go!"

He started for the stairs, but stopped when he realized that the girl wasn't following him. "Cassandra?"

The Athenian was looking down. "Siegfried . . . that vampire told me . . . that Sophitia . . . killed my family . . ."

The knight was shocked when he heard those words. But he instantly shook his head. "He's just putting down, Cassandra! Don't let those words-"

"But what if my family's really dead, Siegfried?! What if they're really gone for good?! Even if I defeat Sophitia, I'll have nowhere to go when it's over! I'm now all alone! All my life, I've been fighting for my family, to make sure that they live happy lives! But now that they're gone . . . I have no reason to fight . . . to go on . . . to live . . . I might as well just die!"

Cassandra then dropped to her knees and began crying. For a while, Siegfried and Juliane watched and she sobbed. Then the knight walked to her and bent down. He then placed his hands on her shoulders. "Listen to me. I don't know if what he said was true. But if it is, then let me say this. Just because your family's gone . . . doesn't mean that you should die as well. Algol entrusted you with Soul Calibur for a reason. He wanted you to save this world. And who knows, you might fight a way to bring your family back and set your sister free."

The girl looked up to the knight with tears with her eyes. "But . . . what if I can't bring them back . . . or free Sophitia?"

"Then you have to move on. I know that it'll be painful, but . . . you won't be alone. I'll be there by your side, and I'll make sure you'll pull through."

Cassandra and Siegfried stared into each other for a moment before the girl slowly nodded. The knight then helped her out and turned to Juliane. "For now, you need to evacuate the castle. Find any survivors and escape."

The maiden quickly bowed. "Yes, Sir Schtauffen."

As Juliane hurried, the two warriors looked out to the battle. It was time for some vampire hunting.

* * *

**Meanwhile, outside the castle**

"Give it all they got! Fire!"

After Hilde gave her order, the soldiers fired their cannons and catapults and the archers unleashed their arrows towards the sky. In an instant, dozens of vampires fell from the sky. Those that fell immediately ran towards the princess and her men. Hilde drew out her sword.

"Charge!"

In an instant, the soldiers charged at the vampires. Soon, the two forces collided with each other. Vampires took soldiers and sucked their blood while soldiers impaled their spears and blades into the vampires' hearts. Hilde took down every vampire that stood in her way with her sword and spear easily and gracefully. As she finished one off, she heard a sudden earth shake from behind and quickly turned to see Raphael, who had just landed. Once his minions saw him, they backed away, ready to watch a duel. The vampire transformed into his human form. He suddenly caught sight of the princess and gave an evil smile.

"So . . . you're Princess Hildegard von Krone? Then the rumors are true. You are as deadly with the sword as you are strong and beautiful. Perfect for being my wife."

Hilde pointed her sword at Raphael. "I shall never be an object of pleasure, especially for a vile creature like you!"

Raphael's evil smile instantly turned into a frown of disappointment. "You dare to defy me and refuse to come along quietly? Very well." He then pulled out a rapier with his left hand and took his stance. "Let us settle this with a duel!"

Hilde also readied her weapons and took her stance. Then they charged at each other. Raphael began thrusting his sword at Hilde swiftly and elegantly. The princess managed to block the attacks, but she knew that he was taking advantage. So when she saw an opening, she immediately started slashing her sword and thrusting her spear at the vampire. For a while, neither of them made progress. They just tried to take advantage. Finally, Raphael had it.

"I think it's time for me to taste your blood!"

He charged his rapier and swung it at Hilde, which broke her guard. Before the princess could react, the vampire sprinted towards her and bit her right shoulder. In an instant, Hilde cried out in agonizing pain. But she managed to knee-kick Raphael in the stomach and knocked him away. However, she suddenly felt dizzy and had a hard time concentrating.

Seeing the look on Hilde's face, Raphael smirked. "It seems that the venom is slowly taking its toll on your body. If you don't do something about it, you'll become one of my minions. But of course, I can't afford to lose the opportunity to get a beautiful girl like you!"

He then charged at her again, rapidly attacking with his rapier. Hilde desperately blocked with her spear, for her right arm was throbbing with pain, but the vampire managed to pierce through parts of her armor and caused her to lose even more blood. Then Raphael stabbed her in her left shoulder, causing the princess to drop her spear. Then the vampire grabbed her by the neck and drew her close to him.

"Once you become my minion, you'll me how it feels . . . to be no longer human!"

He then readied his fangs and was about to bite her in the neck. But then a bright green light shined on them. Its holy power forced Raphael to let go of Hilde and backed away. While covering his eyes, the vampire realized this power.

"Grrh! The Holy Stone!"

Hilde quickly turned around and noticed a man dressed in unusual blue clothing. In his right hand was a red rod and around his neck was a light green pendant, which was the source of the light.

"One who has been infected with evil, you shall hurt no one!"

Raphael grunted. "Well if isn't the one who's been ruining my perfect schemes! I'll have my minions deal with you! Mark my words; I shall get you both!"

In an instant, he changed into his vampire form and flew away. His minions then surrounded the two and were about to charged at them. But then some of them suddenly got sliced in half from behind. Hilde and the man turned and saw that it was Cassandra and Siegfried. The knight turned to the man.

"Cassandra and I trust you. Please protect the princess."

The man nodded and quickly grabbed the princess. Then he jumped high, taking Hilde far away from the battle ground. All of a sudden, the Wolfkrone army appeared and to Siegfried and Cassandra. Then they all continued their assault. Before long, those from both sides fell, and the ground was soon covered in blood. But the knight and the Athenian continued to slice the vampires, one by one. The creatures were no match against them. Finally, they stood behind each other and charged up their weapons. Then they swung their blades, sending a shockwave that finished off the last of the vampires.

For a while, the two warriors just stayed in their stances before standing up again. Then they turned to each other and just stared into each other's eyes. Then Cassandra walked up to Siegfried and hugged him tightly. Burying her face into his armor, she began to silently cry. The knight gently wrapped his arms around the girl and pulled her closer to his body. After a while, Cassandra lifted her head and looked at Siegfried's face again with a small smile.

"Thank you . . . for giving me strength."

Siegfried gently smiled and kissed her on the forehead. He then drew her again. For a long time, they just stood there, holding each other in the arms.


	5. The Journey Begins

I've been busy again. Sorry everyone. New characters are added so enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 4: The Journey Begins

After the battle with the vampires, Siegfried and Cassandra were reunited Hilde and the man from the east, who introduced himself as Kilik. He managed to cure the princess of the venom that she received from Raphael's bite, and she was able to quickly recover from her wounds.

Everyone in the kingdom worked together in cleaning up the city, and gave a moment of silence for those who lost their lives during the attack. Hilde then summoned Cassandra, Siegfried, and Kilik to the throne room. The monk then gave a little bit of his background and stated that he traveled west in search of the Soul swords. After all of them exchanged valuable information, he also revealed to the three of them the tragedy in Athens.

Once Kilik finished, Cassandra could not believe it. Her very own sister murdered her entire family.

"No . . . Sophitia, why?"

In an instant, she was crying. She truly had no family left. Her family was now dead and her sister was lost to Soul Edge's corruption. Siegfried quickly walked up to Cassandra and hugged her, slowly stroking her short blonde hair.

"Cassandra, remember what I said. You have to stay strong, and you're not alone, no matter what happens."

The Athenian looked up to the knight's emerald's eyes and realized that he was right. She had to stay strong, for she still had a duty to fulfill. She slowly and silently nodded before burying her face into the knight's armor, continuing her silent mourning.

Hilde, who was sitting on her throne the entire time, asked Kilik, "Do you know what Sophitia's planning on doing next?"

The monk silently shook his head. "I'm not sure, but she's most likely going to feed Soul Edge with more souls to augment its powers."

"Any idea on where she's heading?"

"Hold on a second." Kilik then closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to find a flow of nearby evil energy. After a brief moment, he opened his eyes in an instant, finding a trail.

"She's apparently heading west, towards the sea."

The princess was confused. "Why would she want to go there? I don't think there's anything in the ocean."

"I felt another evil presence in the west, a presence that's similar to that of Soul Edge. I even saw an image of a terrifying looking man. He was wearing a western pirate's attire, and had a ghost-like presence."

"Who in the world is that?"

Suddenly, Siegfried spoke up. "A pirate who wielded Soul Edge before me."

Hilde and Kilik instantly turned towards him, shocked and confused. Cassandra looked up to the knight, also not knowing whom he was talking about.

"Who's this pirate?"

"I don't know his name, but I'm positively sure it's the same pirate that I fought to obtain Soul Edge seven years ago. I've defeated him, but I guess he somehow came back to life."

Kilik nodded. "Probably because of the evil sword's power."

Hilde then rose from her throne. "Alright then. So we'll now head west."

"Wait."

They all turned to Cassandra, who was the one who spoke up. She was out of Siegfried's embrace and still had a sad look on her face.

"I need to go to Athens . . . I need to give my family a proper burial. It's my duty . . ."

There was a long moment of silence from everyone. They all she knew that Cassandra was right. It was the least she can do for her loved ones. They did not deserve to be left on the streets.

Hilde walked up to Cassandra and placed her hands on the latter's shoulders. "Alright. We shall head for Athens first thing tomorrow morning."

* * *

**Next morning**

Cassandra, Siegfried, Hilde and Kilik left at dawn by horse the next day. The princess's guards wanted to accompany the four as well, but she firmly stated that they had to watch over Wolfkrone while she was away, and left her royal guard, Gerhilde, in charge until she came back. The group quickly got out of Germany by mid-afternoon and headed southeast for Greece. As evening came, they were already in the city of Vienna. Deciding that it would be best if they stopped for tonight, Hilde purchased four rooms for them at a local inn.

The young Athenian sat on her bed alone. It was already getting late, yet she still couldn't sleep. In her mind, she kept thinking of when she last saw Sophitia, while she still had her sanity. The words her sister told her still haunted her mind.

"_You don't understand the pain that I'm going through! No one does!"_

_Why do you believe that, Sophitia? I'm your very own sister. I may not be a mother like you, but I can get a good idea of the pain you've been feeling. What makes you believe that no one can understand your pain? And why didn't you try to find another way to life Pyrrha's curse? Now because of you . . . everyone's dead . . . Why Sophitia?_

In an instant, Cassandra buried her head into her hands and cried. Why was this all happening to her? What were those damn gods thinking? Were they punishing her and her family for no reason? What was going on?

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. "C-Come in."

The door opened and Kilik walked in. "Cassandra, can I talk with you for a while?"

The girl was a little bit startled at first, but slowly nodded. Although she's been with Kilik for only a few days, she instantly knew that he was a good man. The monk pulled a nearby chair to the bed and sat on it.

"Siegfried and Hilde told me everything that happened to you recently, and even how Soul Calibur got sealed inside of you. I'm terribly sorry that you're suffering from this great burden. Maybe if I did something about the two swords many years ago . . . you wouldn't have to suffer."

"What do you mean?"

Kilik gave out a long sigh before answering her question. "I suppose . . . I should tell you . . . about my unbearable past."

He then told her about his past travels, about the horrible incident involving the Evil Seed, and even how he lost his sworn sister, Xianglian. He even told her about the incident in the Romanian Valley and how he was able to free the people of their insanity, thanks to the power of the Dvapara-Yuga. Cassandra was shocked at first, but then she realized that the Holy Stone that the people were talking about was Kilik's sacred treasure. So it was he who saved them. She also felt sorry for the pain that he was going through.

"Cassandra, I understand the pain you are experiencing right now, but you must stay strong. You have to do everything you possibly can to control of the power within. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, it will bring destruction upon the world."

The girl slowly nodded. "I understand."

With a smile on his face, Kilik pulled out a bottle filled with blue liquid. "I made you this potion. It should help you fall asleep."

After giving her the potion, he rose and headed for the door.

"Kilik."

When the monk turned around, he saw Cassandra with a small smile on her face.

"Thank you . . . for everything."

Kilik smiled and nodded. He then left the room and closed the door behind him. Cassandra then opened the bottle and drank the potion. It wasn't long before she started to become sleepy. Crawling under the bedcovers, Cassandra fell fast asleep.

As Kilik headed back for his room, he noticed Siegfried leaning on the wall, eyes closed and hands crossed.

"Is she alright?"

"She still seems a little bit depressed, but it's not as great as before."

The knight got off the wall. "Good. I just don't want her to suffer."

There was a moment of silence before Kilik spoke up. "You're worried that Sorel will attack Cassandra again."

"I just have this bad feeling something terrible is going to happen soon. That vampire will most likely try to obtain Soul Calibur. I don't want Cassandra to get hurt again."

"Don't worry. If he comes, we'll be ready for him."

Siegfried nodded, and the two of them departed for their rooms.

* * *

**Meanwhile, in a castle in the Romanian Valley**

Raphael sat on his throne seat with his legs crossed and his head leaning on his right arm that was on the arm rest. His minions were watching him from a good distance, not wanting to fall victim to his rage and anger.

"Tch. I was so close in getting Soul Calibur. It was even within my grasp. But that boy with his meddling Holy Stone just had to ruin my plans once again!"

Suddenly, there was a voice that came out of nowhere. "Are you referring to the Dvapara-Yuga?"

The dark lord quickly jolted from his throne and pulled out his rapier. "Who goes there?"

From Raphael's left side, a man came out of the shadows. He was all dressed in white and had metal ornaments on his chest, sleeves, and robe. His attire appeared to be of Babylonian origin. He was bald and had very dark skin. His right eye was a normal brown one, but his left one was very unusual. It was all a golden yellow, and there was a weird circular tattoo around it. In his right hand was a large, white and golden scythe.

The vampire sneered. "Who are you, and how did you enter my castle?"

"You are a fool. Do you honestly think that you can grasp the spirit sword while you are infected with the aura of the evil blade? You don't even know everything, like the origins of the Dvapara-Yuga. You have no right to wield Soul Calibur. You don't even belong to this world."

Raphael was greatly disgusted by the man's words. "How dare you! You shall pay for your insolence! Kill him!"

In an instant, a massive swarm of vampires flew towards the man. He merely smirked and twirled his scythe in front of himself, creating a large magic shield around himself. The vampires nearby were instantly repelled back, knocking more vampires behind them. Then the man rushed towards them and began slicing a majority of them, killing them in an instant. The vampires did their best to fight back, but he killed one vampire after another.

Realizing that they had to do something, the remaining vampires got together and charged at the man at the same time. But he somehow knew they were going to do just that. So he brought his scythe and charged it with power. When the vampires were at the right distance from him, he quickly slammed his scythe down. Then, with the tip of his finger, he drew a small triangular symbol in the air. In an instant, all of the vampires were trapped inside some sort of magic circle. Then they were all raised into the air as a black hole suddenly appeared behind them. The man then smacked them with his scythe, sending all of the vampires into the black hole. Once they were all gone, the man closed the void, leaving him and Raphael left.

The dark lord was shocked. Just who was this man? The man then turned towards him with a sinister smile on his face. "That was to be expected . . . from the likes of you. It's obvious that your kind is very weak to exist in this world."

Raphael's face was filled with anger. "Why you-!"

He then charged at the man in fierce anger. The man quickly dodged and brought his charged scythe down on Raphael. The dark lord cried out in agonizing pain. For a while, the man stared down at Raphael, and then he turned towards the door.

The dark lord was confused. "Just what are you doing? Are you taking pity on me?"

The man turned back and said, "It's too early for your death. I'll let you live for now. I think it'll be quite amusing to see how you will try to obtain the spirit sword. I will tell you that the girl with the sword is currently in Vienna as we speak. But know this: I, Zasalamel, shall be watching you from the shadows and see just what you will do."

After he finished, he walked outside and left the castle. Raphael tried his best to get up, but he was in so much pain that he collapsed on the floor. Suddenly, a little girl appeared from the shadows and ran up to him. She was wearing a dark-purple gothic Lolita dress with fish-net stockings that went up to the bottom of her skirt and black knee-high boots. Her red hair was tied up into two curly side-ponytails. Her skin was pale and her eyes were crimson red, just like the dark lord.

"Father!"

Raphael turned to his right side and saw his young foster daughter. "Amy . . . It's alright. I'm fine."

Amy helped her father up and he stared out through the window. "I swear, I will make this Zasalamel regret not killing me when he had the chance!"

* * *

**Meanwhile, outside of Toledo, Spain**

Sophitia, the Red Goddess of Death, walked up a hill that overlooked Toledo, the city that was once the capital of Spain. Although that title was passed onto Madrid, the city still flourished with all sorts of activity: food trading, selling of merchandises, and so on and so forth. Since there was so much activity going on, there were so many souls for Soul Edge to feed on. But the evil goddess decided to deal with those pathetic people later. Right now, there was one in particular that she was interested in: Cervantes de Leon.

"That wretched pirate is still roaming this earth. I just know it."

She then looked out west, towards the ocean beyond Toledo. A dark presence was heading her way. She was positive that it was him.

"Hmph. So he sensed my presence here. Hehehe. Alright then. I shall wait for him here. This shall be the last place he'll be on this earth before his soul is mine."

* * *

I'll try to upload the next chapter asap! Til then, peace out!


	6. The Dread Pirate

Ah! Finally it's summer. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna be free all the time to write my stories. But I'll try to upload them as soon as I can. Anyways this is a shorter chapter, but I hope that all of you will still enjoy it.

* * *

Chapter 5: The Dread Pirate

Cervantes made his way near the harbor of western Spain on his terrifying looking pirate ship. He stood high above the sails with his hands crossed and his two weapons, Acheron and Nirvana, twirling telekinetically around him. The Dread Pirate could feel it, the sword that he so longed to get his hands on: Soul Edge. He knew that it was close. But there was another presence that he knew. It was that of the one who ruined his plans seven years ago.

"That wretched oracle . . . Does she plan on trying to stop me again? I'll teach her . . . Wait."

There was something very different about her this time. It was as if she had an evil aura emanating from within her. Had she given herself up to darkness? Cervantes then realized that she and Soul Edge were together.

"Is she now . . . wielding Soul Edge? Unbelievable! But it matters not . . . That sword shall soon be mine!"

Soon, his ship reached the harbor, and several people noticed it, becoming filled instantly with fear. Some quickly ran away as fast as they could. Others pulled out their pistols and began firing at Cervantes. But the Dread Pirate sprinted high into the air, dodging the bullets, and crashed down on the docks and knocking several people back. Then he instantly began killing the people around him, absorbing their souls. The more souls he gained, the more powerful he became.

It wasn't long before everyone human on the dock was killed, but Cervantes was still not satisfied. The only thing that could satisfy him was Soul Edge.

"Just you wait, wretched oracle! This time . . . I shall be the one that shall be victorious! Ahahahahaha!"

* * *

**Toledo, Spain**

Toledo was in the midst of chaos. Hundreds of buildings were slowly being consumed by flames, and the streets were filled with townspeople, screaming in fear of the Red Goddess of Death. Sophitia made her way through the road, leaving behind a path of red blood filled with bodies of the people that were killed by Soul Edge. There was nothing that could stop her. She had her mind on eliminating Cervantes; not only for revenge from before, but also to feed Soul Edge.

"Dread Pirate . . . Where are you?"

Suddenly, she heard a quake behind her. She turned around and saw someone kneeling there. He had on a dark purple sleeveless coat and a light red shirt that his exposed part of his chest, a dark purple pirate hat, dark purple pants, and brown boots. In his left hand was a long sword, and in his right a pistol with a blade attached to the top. The man's skin was a hideous purple color, and it looked like his eyes had no pupils . . . like he was a ghost.

Sophitia's scar began to ache a little. She suddenly realized who the man was.

"Cervantes . . . the Dread Pirate."

The pirate got up from where he knelt and looked at the former oracle with an evil smirk on his face. "I see that you were seeking me out. It's quite ironic that I was looking for you too . . . since you have what's supposed to be mine!"

The Red Goddess shook her head. "You fool; you're no longer worry to wield this blade. But your soul is quite fitting to satisfy Soul Edge's hunger . . . for now."

Cervantes readied his weapons. "I have been waiting to settle the score with you for too long!"

The two charged at each other. Sophitia took the first strikes, slashing her sword at Cervantes, but the pirate blocked each attack with each sword. Then he flipped over her in the air and fired at her with his pistol sword, but the Red Goddess blocked the attack with her shield. After he landed, Cervantes began his assault on Sophitia, rapidly slashing his swords at her. The Red Goddess managed to block the attacks with her sword and shield. As she blocked another attack, Sophitia charged up her sword, knocked Cervantes away and swung her blade at him, creating a powerful lightning wave. But the pirate quickly jumped high into the air and dodged the attack.

As he landed, the Dread Pirate shook his head. "Neither of us will win if we keep this up."

Sophitia smirked. "Then one of us should power up a bit!"

Suddenly, her red eyes began to glow with an evil light. She was then lifted telekinetically into the air as a red mist began to cover her. Cervantes was puzzled at what she was doing to herself. Suddenly, Sophitia gave out an eerie cry, and the red mist surrounding her lifted. The Dread Pirate could not recognize her at first, for she was now more demon looking. Her hair was now a dark crimson color, and her skin was paler than before. She also had huge demonic wings that were as black as the night and her clothes were dark red and torn up. She was truly a demon.

"Prepare to face me at full power!"

Cervantes laughed. "Do you truly think that you'll truly defeat me?"

The pirate quickly charged up his sword and leaped at the Red Goddess. He immediately began attacking her, but she easily dodged and blocked each one. It was as if she knew where he was going to strike before he did it. As Cervantes tried to stab her, Sophitia quickly twirled around him and kicked him in the back, sending him crashing him into a nearby building. The pirate got up and quickly recovered on the roof top, but before he knew it, the Red Goddess quickly came on him and attacked him with Soul Edge. Cervantes managed to block the attack with his swords, but he wasn't prepared for her next attacks. Sophitia quickly performed a spin kick, which hit him on the right side of his face and knocked him over the roof. The Red Goddess then slashed at him rapidly. Cervantes didn't have enough time to defend himself, and received several slashes everywhere on his body. He felt some of the souls that he collected slip away from his body and into Soul Edge. For the final strike, Sophitia charged up Soul Edge, brought it over her head, and slashed at Cervantes, causing him to crash into another building.

This time, the pirate could not give up. Not only was he badly wounded, but his skin began to crumble. He was about to die. Sophitia then landed near him and pointed Soul Edge at his neck.

"Now you know why you shouldn't try to mess with me. I am more powerful than you could have ever imagined. And now to finish-"

Suddenly, the Red Goddess felt a throb in her head. It hurt so much. She dropped her sword, dropped to her knees and placed her hands on her head. The souls that she stole from Cervantes slipped away from Soul Edge and quickly back into his body. His skin stopped eroding and his wounds were healed instantly. He pushed himself up and watched Sophitia in shock.

"Gaaahhh! What's going on? My head hurts! Why?"

A voice then cried out, _"Stop this! This is not what I want!"_

"Grrh! Foolish woman! This is want you chose! It's too late!"

_"No! I don't want to-"_

"Enough!"

The Red Goddess suppressed the will and picked up Soul Edge. She then turned towards the pirate with a frown on her face.

"Consider yourself lucky. It seems that this woman's will is stronger than I thought. I'll let you live for now, but believe me with what I say. Next time . . . you won't be so lucky."

She then flapped her wings and flew hand with the evil sword in her hands. Cervantes stood up and watched as she flew away. He could not believe it. That girl's true will was fighting with that of Soul Edge.

"Hmph, so she doesn't have full control of the sword's power. Hah! All the more better for me! It's going to be so easy to snatch Soul Edge from her!"

After he picked up his weapons, he took one last look to the sky with a smirk on his face. "Mark my words, girl, I'll make you regret keeping me alive. You'll soon experience the pain that I have endured!"

* * *

**In another part of Toledo**

A beautiful ninja with long black hair tied in a ponytail and a tight red ninja suit watched as parts of the city of Toledo were being consumed by flames from the top of a clock tower. But it appeared that the Red Goddess of Death had stopped her assault. She saw everything, the whole battle between her and the pirate that she defeated seven years ago. The ninja cared not how he came back from the dead. What she was more worried about was that things will go out of hand if the girl's evil power went out of control.

_"But how can I fight her now? She's way too powerful . . ."_

She shook her head as she knew the truth. There was only one person who should fight that woman, and that was the woman's very own sister. The girl had to learn to control the power of the spirit sword, but the ninja knew that her spirit was weak at the moment.

"She has to become strong . . . for the sake of the world and to be able to face her demons alone. I must go and do what needs to be done."

The ninja then leaped into the air and hurried east. Time was running out.

* * *

**Meanwhile: outside Vienna**

Raphael looked over the city of Vienna from the nearby hills. If Zasalamel was telling the truth, then the girl was truly within the city. Of course, he wouldn't be surprised if she had some strong companions with her.

"This time, I shall kill that girl and take what is rightfully mine!"


	7. Reunions

Hi everyone! Sorry that I took so long with this chapter. I was renting out Final Fantasy XIII, and I got to tell you all, the game was awesome! I haven't reached the end yet though cuz I'm still doing those missions. Anyways enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 6: Reunions

Dawn was about to come to Vienna. At the gates, a big man with a huge mace and a young woman with a Chinese jian entered the city on their horses. The man had very unusual clothing, for it was only arming and legging made of fur, a furry loincloth, and a helmet that was the head of a rhino. The helmet covered most of his face, making it impossible to see the features of his face from afar. He was in early forties, his skin was a medium brown color, and his muscles were huge. The woman, on the other hand was very young, just twenty years old. She had on a white coat with a white undershirt underneath and a blue flower on the right side of her head. She also had white short-shorts, white socks, and dark blue shoes. Everything had a trim of blue and purple colors.

The woman looked around the city like she was searching for something. "I just know that Kilik's here. I can feel it."

The man looked down at the girl with a chuckle. "You can feel him alright. You're so much in love with that man, aren't you?"

The girl looked up to the man with anger on her face. "Rock! You promised me not to tease me like that!"

The White Giant chuckled again and playfully messed with her short, brunette hair. "Oh, Xianghua I'm just joking! You need to stop being so worried and lighten up a bit!"

The young Chinese woman brushed Rock's hand from her head and looked onward. "Anyways let's ask the folks here. They've got to know something."

Suddenly they heard someone nearby scream. They turned towards the direction of the scream and stood in shock. A massive swarm of terrifying looking monsters was heading straight for the city. Their leader in front was the most ferocious looking of them all and looked difficult. Then suddenly he pointed down at the city, and the monsters dived down and began grabbing people, biting into their necks.

Xianghua and Rock quickly got off their horses, readied their weapons and charged. They had to protect the people of the town. The vampires nearby saw them and charged at them. As one of them closed in on the White Giant, he quickly swung his mace at the monster and killed it. More vampires came in, but the White Giant brought each one down with his mace easily.

Meanwhile, Xianghua gracefully dodged the attacks of a vampire and brought down her sword, slicing the monster in half. Then two more flew in from behind her, unleashing devastating attacks, but she quickly noticed them and quickly rolled away. One of them did a low attack at her, but the dancer quickly got up and jumped and beheaded it. Then the other one attack Xianghua with its claw, but she quickly blocked with her sword. She then swung her feet and tripped the vampire. With one slash she beheaded it.

As she finished, more vampires surrounded her and Rock. She slowly backed away towards the White Giant, who in turn backed towards her. The two of them were completely surrounded. Then the vampire leader swooped down towards them and changed into his human form. He walked up to Xianghua with Rock with a sinister smile on his face.

"Hmph, I think I have a splendid idea of what to do with you two."

* * *

**Meanwhile, at the inn**

Cassandra immediately woke up from her sleep, hearing the cries of terrified people outside. She ran to her window and opened it. She gasped as she saw that the city was under attack. Suddenly she heard a loud, evil laugh.

"Cassandra Alexandra! I know that you're within this city! If you do not give me Soul Calibur, I'll keep on taking more lives! Come find me at the clock tower!"

She recognized that voice. It was Raphael. But she wondered how he found her. She immediately shook her head.

_There's no time to waste! I've got to stop him!_

Cassandra quickly grabbed her weapons and headed out. As she got outside, her eyes were drawn to the clock tower. She had to get there fast.

"Cassandra!"

She turned around and saw Siegfried, Kilik, and Hilde emerge from the inn with their weapons. The knight stopped at her side.

"It seems that Sorel stills wants the sword and will go so far to obtain it."

"Yeah. This has gone far enough. I have to stop him."

* * *

**At the clock tower**

The four warriors ran as fast as they could to the tower, taking down every vampire that stood in their way and passing through crowds that were running for their lives. Eventually they made it and looked up to the top. Sure enough, Raphael was perched on the top.

"You humans certainly took long enough to get here."

Cassandra narrowed her eyes at him. "You've gone too far this time! It's me that you want, so leave the citizens of this city alone!"

"If I did that, then things will certainly be boring."

Hilde then shouted out, "So you truly have the nerve to laugh when you hurt others, and you even find pleasure in that?"

"But of course! You see how these people have become so frightened when my minions and I arrived here? Their fear came out in an instant, and their cries are like music to my ears!"

The Athenian pointed up her sword towards the vampire. "Enough! It's time that we settle things!"

Suddenly the door to the clock tower opened and something from within jumped into the air, slamming something else hard into the ground. The four managed to quickly back away and dodge the attack, but as the dust in the air cleared, Cassandra gasped as she could recognize the person who attacked them.

"Rock? It . . . can't be!"

But then she realized that something was wrong with him. His eyes showed that he's under some sort of spell. Raphael jumped from the tower and landed beside the White Giant.

"Seems that you know this fellow. I didn't want to waste my time making someone strong as him a vampire. So I placed a spell on him, putting him under my control. And he's not the only one."

Before they knew it, another person sprinted from the tower entrance and past Raphael and Rock and slashed a sword at Kilik. The monk blocked the attack with his rod, but was shocked when he saw his attacker.

"Xianghua?"

The dancer did not say anything and kicked him in the stomach, causing him to falter back. As he got up, Xianghua back flipped and stopped at Raphael's side.

"Yes. Both of them have proven to be quite useful to me. These two make perfect bodyguards. Don't you all agree?"

Kilik took off the Dvapara-Yuga fragment around his neck and held it high. In an instant, it began to glow with a bright green light.

"They won't be your servants for long! Dvapara-Yuga, free them!"

The holy light shot out from the fragment and towards Rock and Xianghua. But suddenly, the vampire's body glowed with a red light, and that pushed back the light of the Holy Stone. The four warriors were shocked. Kilik couldn't free their friends. Raphael laughed.

"Fool! Do you honestly think that I'll let you do that like you did last time? Absolutely not. I've prepared myself this time."

From his pocket, he took out a fragment that glowed with an evil crimson light. The four gasped. He was holding a fragment of Soul Edge. Raphael then turned to Cassandra.

"I should thank you for giving this to me. This fragment has proven useful to me."

"Yeah, right. If I remember correctly, you _stole _it from me!"

"Well now it belongs to me. Although I put Soul Edge behind me, I still need some of its power. Now then, shall we dance?"

Before Cassandra knew it, the vampire sprinted towards her with his rapier ready to stab her. The Athenian dodge to her left and evaded the attack, but Raphael immediately swung his sword at her. Cassandra blocked the attack with her shield and began slashing Raphael with her sword. The two have engaged in battle.

Xianghua ran up to Kilik again and did a no-hand cartwheel in the air, kicking at the monk. But he quickly back flipped and landed at a safe distance. He cursed to himself. Right now, the only that he can do was defending himself and try to come up with a plan to set her free. The dancer ran up to him again. This time she gracefully slashed her sword many times at him. But the monk spun his rod around his body and blocked each attack and began counterattacking, which she blocked with her sword.

Meanwhile, Rock began his battle with Siegfried and Hilde. He charged up his mace and swung it at them. The knight managed to block the power wave his sword, but the princess stood no chance and was blown away. The White Giant then ran up to Siegfried, bringing his mace over his head. Once he was at the right spot, he slammed his mace down at the knight. But Siegfried quickly dodged the attack and swung his zweihänder at Rock. The White Giant quickly blocked the attack and began fighting back.

As Hilde began getting back up, she noticed Siegfried and Rock fighting. Quickly grabbing she ran up to join the knight. As Siegfried skidded away from blocking one of Rock's attacks, the princess launched her spear at the White Giant. But he noticed her and grabbed her spear and twirled it and Hilde around and threw her at the knight, causing both of them to fly backwards and crash very hard on the ground. Siegfried quickly looked up and saw that Rock charged up his mace, brought it over his head and slammed it into the ground, creating an enormous earthquake. The knight quickly defended himself and the princess from the attack with his sword, and the two of them got back up and fought back.

After a while, Cassandra had it. Just fighting them wasn't enough. They had to free Rock and Xianghua from Raphael's spell, and Kilik's Dvapara-Yuga wasn't enough.

_If we can only augment the pendant's power . . ._

Suddenly, Xianghua kicked Kilik in the stomach so hard that the pendant around his neck was flung off, and it fell near where Cassandra and Raphael were fighting. Seeing that the vampire saw it coming to them, the Athenian quickly pulled back and rolled to the pendant, grabbing it as she got up. Suddenly, the Dvapara-Yuga began to glow so bright, brighter than ever before. Cassandra's body began glowing as well, much to her surprise. Everyone stopped fighting and looked at the Athenian, confused at what was going on.

Kilik gasped as he realized what it was. "Cassandra's giving some of the power of the spirit sword to the Dvapara-Yuga!"

Raphael sneered. "It's just too bad that we won't be able to see how much more powerful that darn Holy Stone has become!"

The vampire then lunged at Cassandra with his rapier ready to stab her, but she quickly rolled away and threw the pendant at Kilik. The monk quickly grabbed it while avoiding a kick from Xianghua and lifted high into the air.

"Dvapara-Yuga, release Sorel's victims!"

All of a sudden, the light emanating from the pendant shot out at the dancer and the White Giant and enveloped both of them. It stayed that way for a moment, and then it all cleared. Rock and Xianghua suddenly collapsed on the ground. Kilik quickly bent over and lifted his friend up.

"Xianghua . . ."

Suddenly, the girl slowly opened her eyes and looked up at the man that she was searching for so long.

"Kilik . . ."

Rock slowly got up and looked around him with a confused look on his face.

"What happened? What's going on?"

Raphael then cursed at Cassandra and Kilik. "You two have disrupted my plans for the last time!"

All of a sudden, the vampire transformed from his human form to his monstrous form and went after Kilik and Xianghua, but the monk quickly held up the pendant again, and it glowed with its bright green light once again. Raphael was knocked back far away, and Siegfried ran up to him, stabbed the monster with his zweihänder and flung him high in the air. Cassandra then got onto the knight's shoulder and jumped up at Raphael. With her sword all charged up, she brought it over her head and slashed it at the vampire, causing him to crash into the ground with a big bang.

After she landed safely on the ground, Cassandra looked up to where Raphael landed. The vampire slowly got up, and everyone saw that he was badly wounded from the attacks he received from the Athenian and the knight.

After coughing out some blood, Raphael sneered at all of them. "Mark my words! This is not over!"

In an instant, a swarm of bats surrounded him, lifting him high up in the air. Then they flew far away from the city, carrying the injured vampire.

* * *

**Hours later, back at the inn**

After the battle, the six warriors began helping out the residents of Vienna with cleaning up the city, and burying those who lost their lives during the fight. Then they gathered at the inn to catch up with each other. Kilik was in his room with Xianghua, who was very mad at him.

"Kilik, I cannot believe that you would leave me behind and journey on without me! Why?"

"Xianghua, please understand. I had to-"

"No you listen to me! Do you have any idea of how worried I was when I realized you were gone the morning you left? I swore that I went through the entire Himalayas just to find you! I went through every village to find clues of where you went but couldn't find anything! I almost thought that you were abducted by servants of Soul Edge!"

"Xianghua please calm down! I'm sorry that I left you and made you worried. But you have to understand. It was for your own good."

"How is ditching me my own good?"

"If you continued on with me you would've been in great danger!"

"I don't care if it's too dangerous! I want to be with you! That's where I find my happiness!"

Kilik was stunned when Xianghua shouted out those words, but then realized that she was right. He already knew that she had hidden feelings for him. They stayed that way before the dancer finally started crying. She then ran up to Kilik and hugged him tightly.

"Please, Kilik. I just want to stand by your side. It's all I want. I'll help you carry whatever burden you have to carry, and fight against evil. Just let me stand by your side."

The monk was hesitant. He knew that she reminded him of someone that he cherished . . . and whose life he took with his very own hands. But she wanted to be with him so badly . . . and he wanted to be with her too. He slowly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.

"Alright, Xianghua. I'll let you come with me. Just promise me that you stay close."

The dancer nodded and continued to hug him. There was no way they were going to part ever again. She silently made a vow to herself . . . to never leave his side.

Meanwhile, Cassandra and Rock were in her room. The Athenian told the White Giant the sad tale of the past events that happened, which made his heart sag.

"I'm so sorry, Cassandra. This must be so burdensome for you."

"It's okay. I can handle it now. I'm surrounded by wonderful people who are helping in carrying my burden."

"And I shall help you as well."

"Huh? Why?"

"It's my way of thanking you. You saved my life. Now I shall repay you by helping you."

"It's gonna be really dangerous Rock. I mean, you almost became a permanent servant of that darn vampire."

"But you helped me break free from his control, and I shall repay you for that. I shall protect you from any danger that comes your way."

Cassandra looked into his dark brown eyes and saw the determination within them. He was truly willing to help her and fight alongside her. He really was a true friend. How could she turn him down?

"Okay. You can come with us."

Suddenly, the White Giant stretched out his arms and yawned. "But first, I need a nice, long nap. It truly has been a very long day."

Cassandra nodded. The battle truly exhausted all of them. After exchanging good nights with each other, Rock left for his room and she got under her covers and fell fast asleep.

* * *

**Next morning, outside the inn**

Hilde stood in front of Rock and Xianghua with her arms crossed. Last night, she had given them time to think over their decision of coming along with Cassandra. It wasn't too late for them to turn, but it was pretty obvious that their minds were made up.

"So, are you two willing to risk your life to complete our mission? It's alright if you don't want to come if you think it's too dangerous."

The two of them nodded their heads and said, "We're going."

Hilde then smiled. "Alright then, let's go."

Then they all got their horses and galloped through the gates, with their sites on Athens.

* * *

**Meanwhile, on top of the clock tower**

Zasalamel watched as the six warriors were leaving the city. His sight was particularly on Cassandra and shook his head.

"Foolish girl. There is absolutely no way you can control the power of the spirit sword within you. Soon, you will be consumed by that power . . . just like your sister was with Soul Edge."


	8. Corrupted Hearts

Chapter 7: Corrupted Hearts

**Outside Ostrheinsburg**

A man stood on the banks that surrounded the old castle. He had short hair that was black as night and dark brown eyes. He had on a white, sleeveless vest, black and white pants, and black boots. The weapon that he carried was a nunchaku. He was a Japanese pirate, but he had no crew, for they were all dead, killed by the golem known as Astaroth. This man did kill the giant, but somehow, he was resurrected back to life. For months, the pirate has searched for Astaroth, but lately he has been hearing rumors that the golem was killed by an evil entity known as the Red Goddess of Death. He could not believe it. It had to be a lie. Astaroth was his to kill; his and his alone.

The young man shook his head in anger. _That so called Red Goddess of Death! She's gonna pay for this!_

With the information he gathered, he managed to locate her at the Ostrheinsburg castle. It was time to teach her a lesson.

* * *

**Meanwhile, inside the castle**

Sophitia, sitting on the throne with Soul Edge by her side, cursed to herself. Her weak part was trying to take control again. This could not happen again, but she kept on wandering on how this happened.

_When I took over this body, I made sure that my weak self would not try to take control again. Yet somehow, she managed to break free of my control for a little while. How could this have happened?_

The Red Goddess got up from her throne and walked up to the tall window. Outside, the sky was filled with dark thunderclouds, and lightning was flashing throughout the sky. It appeared that the almighty king of the Olympian Gods was getting mad at her. Sophitia merely smirked.

"Hmph, just what are you trying to do Zeus? Scare me? Hah! Try all you have at me! None of it will work! I'm not afraid of you or any of the other gods of Olympus! I swear to all of you, someday, I'll travel to your realm and kill all of you! Then I will become the new ruler of this world!"

Suddenly a voice shouted out from behind her. "Do you honestly think that you can do all of that? Cuz you gotta beat me first!"

Sophitia turned around and saw a man emerge from the shadows. She made a face. He looked like an ordinary person, and she would have no trouble in beating him. But suddenly, she felt a small aura emanating from his body. It was very faint, but it felt like Soul Edge.

"Who are you, and why do you have the aura of the evil sword?"

The man shrugged. "Well since I'm gonna kill you right now, I guess I can let you know who I am. The name's Maxi and it's a long story of how I got a piece of Soul Edge inside of me. Now tell me, are you the one who killed Astaroth?"

"Yes. He had a part of Soul Edge inside of him, and the sword was getting hungry for souls. I had to feed that monster's soul. Why do you want to know? What was he to you?"

Suddenly the pirate pulled out his nunchaku and took his stance. "Bitch! That freak was mine to kill; mine and mine alone! No one else was supposed to send him to hell!"

"Is that the only reason why you want to fight me? Pathetic."

She stretched out her hand, and in an instant, Soul Edge was lifted telekinetically in the air and flew swiftly to her. As soon as she grabbed it, it transformed into a sword and shield. She then readied herself for battle.

"At least I can feed your soul to Soul Edge. Your aura may be faint, but it's better than nothing."

Maxi twirled his nunchaku a few times as he shouted, "Like hell! I'm the one who's gonna destroy your soul!"

Then they sprinted towards each other. Sophitia slashed and stabbed her sword at Maxi, but he spun his weapon around his body, blocking her attacks. After flinging her sword away, he kicked her in the face. The Red Goddess managed to quickly recover, but the pirate kept on attacking her, forcing her to defend herself with her shield.

_He's really pushing me! I've got no time for this!_

After dodging one of Maxi's kicks, Sophitia lunged her sword at him several times. Although he managed to dodge her attacks, there were some small wounds on his arms, chest and legs. Then the Red Goddess slammed her shield into his face, knocking him a couple yards away. He quickly recovered, but then she sped up to him and brought down her sword upon him. He managed to quickly block the attack with his nunchaku, yet he was easily pinned to the ground.

"What's the matter, pirate? Is this all too much for you?"

Maxi looked up with a grin on his face. "As if! I'm just gettin' started!"

He then spun his right foot, knocking Sophitia down. As she got up, he immediately knocked her sword far away. Then he kept on attacking her with his nunchaku and kicks, forcing her to block with her shield and dodge. After the Red Goddess rolled away from one of the pirate's kicks, he grabbed her shield and threw it away. Then he rapidly swung his nunchaku, hitting her several times in the chest. He then punched her upwards, flinging her high up. Finally, when she was at the right spot, Maxi kicked her in the back, knocking her far away.

As he landed, Maxi cursed Sophitia. "How'd you like that? You just faced the power of the Rising Dragon of the Zodiac!"

Suddenly, he heard a sinister laugh from Sophitia, which made him confused.

"Hey, what's so funny?"

"Is that all you got? You'll have to do better than that to defeat me!"

She lifted herself telekinetically up into the air, and surrounded herself with a red mist. After a few seconds, the mist lifted, and the Red Goddess revealed her demonic form. Her sword and shield returned to her telekinetically and she pointed her blade at Maxi.

"It's time for you . . . to face my true power!"

She then dived down and charged towards the pirate. He managed to dodge, but she came back around and knocked him a couple yards away. As he got up, Sophitia began slashing her sword at him. The pirate tried his best to defend himself, but she was overwhelming him with her power. Then she tried to slam him in the face with her shield. He blocked the shield, but then she slashed him with her sword in the stomach.

Maxi cried out in pain and backed away. He felt his wound and saw that a ton of blood was gushing out. Her power was too much for him.

_This is bad! At this rate . . . I'm done for!_

Sophitia then flew to him and attacked him. This time, he didn't react fast enough, and she stabbed her sword into his right shoulder. Pulling it out, she then spin kicked at his legs and kicked him high into the air. She flew up to him and grabbed him by the neck with her demonic claw.

"And now . . . you will experience the pain that very few have ever experienced before!"

Suddenly, red lightning enveloped around her arm and in an instant, it traveled to Maxi. As soon as it reached him, unbearable pain shot throughout his entire body. The pirate screamed out and tried to break free. But it was no use. It was as if his energy was being drained from his body. Then she threw him far and flew to him again. This time, she stabbed him into the chest and hurled him down into the ground.

After the Red Goddess landed, she walked up to her defeated opponent. The pirate was all covered in blood, and looked like a total mess. He was still breathing, but he was barely alive, on the brink of death. She lifted her sword over her head, ready to finish him off. But then she stopped herself. It would be foolish of her to kill him. Her pathetic sister probably had a couple of friends that are helping her. Although they were probably just weaklings, it would be difficult getting rid of them all by herself.

Why didn't I think of this before? I can have a servant to help me, and this man is perfect for the job! And when he's done, that's when I'll take his soul!"

She then grabbed Maxi by the throat and pulled him close to her face. "Today is your lucky day, because you'll be my loyal servant."

Suddenly, a crimson colored aura was created from within and surrounded her. It then traveled around her arm and engulfed the pirate. Sophitia let go and stepped back, watching as Maxi's appearance began to change. His black hair became silver and his white clothes became black. Also, his wounds were healed and he was no longer covered in blood. Then the aura disappeared and he opened his eyes, which were now as crimson in color as Sophitia's.

He then walked up to her and bowed down at her feet. "Your wish is my command . . . master."

* * *

**Meanwhile, a couple of miles outside**

Kilik looked out in the horizon. They were almost at Cassandra's home, and it had been a long journey. He then turned over to Xianghua, who was riding alongside him. It was a long time since they traveled together. He felt bad for leaving her in the Himalayas, but back then, he couldn't stand being near her anymore. She just looked almost exactly like Xianglian, his sworn sister.

_Why is it that they look so much alike? I just don't get it._

Xianghua quickly noticed his stare and turned towards him with a questioned look on her face. "What's wrong?"

The monk turned away and shook his head. "It's nothing."

Xianghua's face changed with a stern look. "Whenever you look at me, it's as if I remind you of someone. Is that it?"

"Xianghua, I told you. It's nothing."

She gave a frown. "You're a pretty bad liar. I'll let you be for now, but trust me. One of these days, I'll find out what is."

_He looked down with a sad look on his face. I pray that you don't._

Up ahead, Cassandra led the group on her white mare. She went down the familiar paths she took while at home. Memories began to come back in her mind: doing chores for her parents, fishing with Lucius, babysitting Pyrrha and Patroklos, helping Rothion in his blacksmith shop . . . and running the bakery with Sophitia. An image of her beloved sister flashed through her mind: long, golden hair in a loose braid, beautiful green eyes, light rosy cheeks, and a gentle smile. That was the Sophitia that she knew and loved. But now she's gone, replaced by one who kills with no hesitation . . . and who was a true demon.

The Athenian began to silently cry. _Will I ever . . . be able to save her from darkness?_

Suddenly, the six warriors stopped their horses on a hillside. Before them was Athens, Cassandra's home. But it was not the beautiful Athens anymore. Now it was all nothing but ruins, destroyed by none other than the Red Goddess of death. Cassandra shook her head in sadness

_Sophitia . . . how could you have done this?_

* * *

So yeah, if you have played SCIV, you would know that I've used Maxi's corrupted version from Kilik's Story Mode for when he's become Sophita's servant. Anyways, summer's almost and I'll be busy again, but I'll try to upload more chapters asap. Til next time!


	9. A Time For Mourning

Hey everyone. Sorry for the long wait. Again I've been kinda of busy.

* * *

Chapter 8: A Time for Mourning

Cassandra could not believe it. Before her was her home, but not as she always remembered it. It was completely destroyed and abandoned. There was no trace of life left. It had become a ghost town.

The Athenian shook her head. She had to finish her business here as soon as she can, for she still had a duty to fulfill. She then motioned her horse to move forward and her allies followed her. They went through the front gate and into the city. All six of them looked around with disgusted looks on their faces. Bodies of men, women, children and old covered the streets, and all was covered in blood. Some of the buildings were completely destroyed and those that were still standing were black from the burns of fire. There was no sign of life at all.

Xianghua shook her head. "I just can't stand any of this at all. It's just horrible."

Hilde sighed. "It would be wrong for us to leave all of these people out here like. I say we stay here for the night and let them rest in peace"

Rock looked around, trying to find an ideal place for camp. "But where do sleep for the night?"

Cassandra looked up to a nearby hill and saw a familiar building made of marble. It was none other than the temple of Hephaestus. Some parts of it were destroyed, but it was better conditions than the other buildings.

"We can rest up there. I'm sure Hephaestus wouldn't mind at all . . . I don't think he even cares at all."

Siegfried turned to the girl and saw both anger and sadness. She had told him about how Hephaestus gave Sophitia missions which nearly killed her. The knight could see that she still hates the god for what he has done.

Kilik then spoke up. "Then we better hurry up a make camp. We have a lot of work to do."

All nodded in agreement and headed for the temple. Once there, they set up camp in the chambers within and immediately set out in three groups to different parts of the city. Xianghua went with Kilik, Rock with Hilde, and Siegfried with Cassandra. They agree to return to camp at dusk.

The monk and the dancer traveled back near the gates of the city. Once there, they saw a group of people pass through the destroyed gates. Kilik approached the man in front, who appeared to be the leader of the group. He appeared to be in his early fifties. His short hair was light blond and his eyes were dark green. The monk couldn't help but wonder why this man kind of looked similar to Cassandra.

The man spoke up. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I'm Kilik, and this is Xianghua. We've come here to help our friend Cassandra-"

"Cassandra? As in Cassandra Alexandra?"

Xianghua was confused. "You know her?"

"Yes. I'm her uncle, Iolaus. Tell me, is she truly alive? Where is she?"

"I think she's at her house."

"Alright, I'll go there right now. These people will help you with the burials."

Iolaus then quickly jumped on his horse and headed for Cassandra's house. Then Kilik, Xianghua, and the group of people began collecting the dead bodies and carrying them to open fields both inside and outside the city. Some of the men took out their shovels and began digging graves and carefully placing the bodies in them.

As Xianghua was carrying the body of a small boy to a nearby gravesite, a young woman approached her. She had long blond hair and eyes that sparkled like sapphires.

"Tell me, are you and your friend telling the truth? Is Cassandra really alive?"

"Of course she is! Why would we lie to you?"

The girl was startled by her words. The dancer bit her lips when she realized that she had frightened her. "I'm sorry. I just-"

"No, it's alright. I'm the one who should be sorry. It's just that my father and I were really worried that we lost all of our family when we heard that Athens had been destroyed."

"So you and Cassandra are related."

"Yes. I must apologize again. I didn't give you my name. I'm Helen. Helen Alexandra. That man who went to go see Cassandra was my father. So that makes me and Cassandra cousins. We come from the city of Corinth. When we heard that Athens was destroyed, we immediately crossed the sea to see for ourselves."

"Well I can reassure you Helen. Cassandra's alright, although, she's going through a difficult time right now, since she just lost her family."

"Yeah. I can only imagine the pain she's going through right now."

* * *

**Meanwhile, at the Alexandra's house**

Cassandra stood in front of what used to be her home. Now, it was just nothing but ruins. The structure of the building was still intact, but the roof was completely destroyed, all of the windows were shattered, and parts of the stone walls had holes. She shook her head. She just couldn't believe it. How could Sophitia do such a thing?

Siegfried turned to her and saw the fear within her eyes. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

The girl nodded. "I have to."

She then proceeded to the door with the knight following close behind her. Slowly, she pushed it opened, and the two of them gasped at what they saw. Lying on the ground was Cassandra's family, all of which were dead. Her father, Achelous, her mother, Nike, her younger brother, Lucius, her brother-in-law, Rothion, and her nephew, Patroklos. All of them were dead, and their blood was splattered all over the floor.

Cassandra fell to her knees, buried her head into her hands, and began letting out her tears. This was all unbearable for her. Her beloved family was truly gone, murdered by her very own sister. There was nothing left for her in the place she called home.

Siegfried knelt beside the girl, pulled her to his chest, and wrapped his arms around her. He felt her face buried in his armor and the tears that flowed down on it. Slowly, he stroked the short hair of her ponytail and drew her closer. It was the least he could do for her. There was no way that her family could come back, and she needed someone to let her cry on.

"Let's give them a proper burial, Cassandra. We can't leave them like this."

The Athenian looked into his emerald eyes and saw that he was right. Burying them was the reason she came to Athens, and after that, she had to find Sophitia and stop her. Getting up, she slowly nodded and walked over to Nike. Lifting her upper body, Cassandra stared at her mother's beautiful face. It was all covered in blood, along with a few laces of her long blonde hair. Her eyes were still open, and the girl saw the fear within them. It must have been horrifying to see your own daughter . . . as a monster.

Cassandra slowly brought her hand upon her mother's face and slowly brought the eyelids down, closing Nike's light green eyes. Then she carefully picked up the body with her arms and stood up. Turning around, she saw that Siegfried had picked up her father. They both nodded and headed for the door.

The Athenian went through first, and when she came outside, she saw a familiar face running towards her.

"Uncle Iolaus?"

"Cassandra! Thank the gods, you're alright!"

Then he looked at what she was carrying in her arms and gasped. His own beloved sister, Nike, was truly dead.

"No . . . Nike . . . How could this be?"

"Uncle Iolaus . . . you and I can catch up later. Right now . . . we need to give our family proper burials."

Iolaus looked to his niece with sadness and slowly nodded his head.

* * *

**An hour later, in the back garden of the Alexandra's house**

Cassandra, Iolaus and Siegfried stood in front of the six graves of the Alexandra family. Each grave was created by the Athenian's uncle, and she and the knight gently laid the bodies within them. At the head of the graves were stones, each bearing the name of the one buried within.

Iolaus looked to his niece and saw the sadness within her eyes. He drew her close and patted her shoulders. "We'll see them again Cassandra."

"I know . . . I just wish that they could've just stayed here on earth for a little longer."

"Come. Let's help the others with the burials."

The girl nodded in agreement and the three of them walked away from the graves silently.

They rejoined their friends and continued with the burials. It only took a few hours before all of the burials were complete, and night was just about to fall.

Outside the gate, the villagers of Corinth were ready to go home. Iolaus and Helen hugged Cassandra goodbye and wished her good luck on her journey, and she wished for them a safe journey. The six warriors returned to the temple of Hephaestus and started a fire. As they finished their dinners, they started planning on what to do next.

Kilik spoke up. "I'm starting to feel Soul Edge's presence heading north of where I first sensed it, to the islands above the main land. But I can still feel that same ghost in the west."

Hilde was confused. "Sophitia didn't take out that dead pirate? Why would she still keep him alive, and why is she now heading towards England?"

Siegfried answered, "She might be going after Ivy Valentine."

The other warriors turned towards the knight as he continued. "Ivy was once a servant of Soul Edge, and she has the blood of the cursed sword in her veins. Sophitia must think that her soul will be satisfying to Soul Edge."

The princess nodded. "We better leave for England at sunrise before she gets there. Let's all get some sleep. We have a long journey ahead of us."

All nodded in agreement and headed for their rooms.

* * *

**At around midnight**

Cassandra lay on the floor of the chamber she was sleeping in, but she just couldn't sleep. The fact that they were in the temple of the god who let her sister go on dangerous journeys and did nothing to help; the one who abandoned her family and left them unprotected from danger. What was he up to?

The Athenian got up and walked quietly to the main sanctuary.

Inside the sanctuary was a huge altar made or white marble. Behind it was a gigantic statue that was about twenty feet tall and also made of white marble. It was a statue of Hephaestus, who wore a toga, had a medium-length beard, and held a sword and shield within his hands.

For a long time, Cassandra stared at the statue with an angry look on her face.

"I can't believe you Hephaestus. You're a god with a lot of power, and you did nothing to protect my family. What's worse is that Sophitia, your own loyal servant, is the new host of Soul Edge, and you did nothing to stop her. What kind of god are you to let those who serve you suffer? This is your entire fault!"

Suddenly, she heard a sinister laugh behind her. Cassandra quickly around and shouted "Who's there?"

Then a man jumped from the ceiling and landed in front of her. It was a black man in white clothes carrying a white scythe.

"You're such a naïve girl. It is not your god to blame for your family's suffering. If anyone is to be blamed . . . it is you."


	10. Uncontrollable Powers

Hey everyone! Sorry that I took so long. I'm just so bored because I'm waiting for Monty Oum to upload his Dead Fantasy videos! Plus I've been busy lately. But now I'm on break, so another chapter should be following soon. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 9: Uncontrollable Powers

Cassandra could not believe the man's words. It was all her fault that her family was dead?

"Who are you, and why do you say that it's my fault that my family's dead?"

"I am Zasalamel, and I have seen all that has happened. And by the look of things, you've brought your own problems upon yourself."

"You're lying!"

"On the contrary, I am telling the truth. Think for a moment. Either you or your sister should've stayed home and watched over your family, but both of you decided to destroy Soul Edge, leaving them vulnerable to harm. You had chances, but you left the first time to carry your sister's burden, which I think was very stupid of you since you had no experience at all with fighting and the outside world. And then you left again when you came back to help her. Of course, she came back a few times herself, but if I were you, I would've just let her go because she was the Gods' chosen one. Face it, Cassandra. You're nothing but a failure."

The Athenian shouted, "Shut up! You speak nothing but lies!"

"My words are far from false. And now about the sword within you. I wonder why King Algol would choose a pathetic girl like you to carry it within you. Because of the way you are right now, Soul Calibur will make you uncontrollable and make you destroy everything around you. Unless you control your emotions, the power within you will go haywire. And the way you are now, I know that you will never control that power."

Cassandra pulled out her sword. "I said shut up!"

Then she dashed towards Zasalamel and swung her blade at him. But he quickly side-stepped and dodged the attack. As the girl turned for another attack, the enigma grabbed her by the neck. He then pushed her up against the wall as she struggled for breath.

"Let us see how uncontrollable you will become!"

Suddenly, his arm was charged up with electric power and it shot to Cassandra. In an instant, she was screaming in agonizing pain. She felt her energy draining away. All of the pain was unbearable.

_I can't break free . . . Someone . . . help me . . . _

Zasalamel was getting impatient. "Come forth, Soul Calibur! Show me your powers!"

All of a sudden, the swordswoman's body began to glow with a brilliant blue light that filled the whole room, and her screams became louder.

**

* * *

**

In Siegfried's room

The knight jerked himself up. He could hear such agonizing screams, and to make things worse, it sounded like Cassandra. Quickly grabbing Requiem, he rushed out of his room. He was greeted by everyone else, who had their weapons in their hands, but Cassandra was not with them.

Siegfried started to worry. "Where's Cassandra?"

Hilde quickly shook her head. "We don't know. We just heard those loud cries. If I had to guess, she must be in trouble."

"Then let's hurry!"

Suddenly, a bright blue light shined from behind them, and everyone turned around in shock.

Kilik then shouted, "Soul Calibur's power has gone out of control! We've got to hurry!"

**

* * *

**

Inside the sanctuary

All five warriors rushed through the door and saw a black man with a large white scythe. Xianghua gasped.

"I remember you. You're the one who defeated Kilik in that evil infested valley!"

"Yes I am. The name is Zasalamel. It seems that the two of you have been doing well."

Kilik pointed his rod at the enigma. "Enough already! What have you done with Cassandra?"

"You mean this pathetic being?"

He then sidestepped and everyone gasped. Before them was indeed Cassandra, but as they knew her. Her eyes had a light blue eerie glow, and her hair was a pale white. On her back were gigantic light blue wings, and her body was surrounded with a bright blue light emanating from her body.

Suddenly, she pulled out her sword and shield, but to everyone's surprise, they weren't her regular weapons, but Soul Calibur. She slashed blade down, creating a giant wave of blue light. The wave headed towards the group, and although they were all able to dodge the attack, they could not believe of the great power Cassandra now possessed.

Siegfried pointed his sword at Zasalamel. "How dare you transform her! You won't have any forgiveness from me!"

"Hehehe. I did not transform her. I just let her emotions get the best of her. Her heart was filled with agony, anger, and sadness. And I thought to myself, 'What would happen if her emotions got the best of her?'"

"You bastard!"

Siegfried then charged at Zasalamel, but then Cassandra darted towards the knight, ready to stab her. He quickly saw her and blocked her attack. She then began her assault, rapidly delivering slashes with her sword, forcing the knight to defend herself.

Kilik, Xianghua, Hilde and Rock watched as Cassandra kept on trying to kill Siegfried. The princess had enough.

"We've got to find a way to calm her down!"

The dancer looked at her with confusion. "But how?"

Suddenly, a horde of skeletons fell from the roof. The four of them managed to dodge, but were shocked as to how they appeared out of nowhere.

They then heard a sinister laugh from Zasalamel. "I won't allow you four to interfere. Have fun with my puppets."

Then the skeletons attacked them. The monk and dancer worked together and combined their martial arts with their rod and sword, gracefully destroying their opponents. The princess stabbed her sword and spear into two skeletons and spun them around, knocking away nearby enemies. And the White Giant quickly swung his giant mace, smashing the skeletons into pieces. But no matter how many they destroy, more of them will come out at them.

Meanwhile Siegfried was pinned to the wall by Cassandra. The only thing that stood between him and Soul Calibur was Requiem. In her eyes was nothing but a fierce rage and a strong desire to kill.

"Snap out of it Cassandra! Wake up!"

He then heard another sinister laugh from Zasalamel. "It's no use, Siegfried. She is now lost in her anger, and she can never be set free."

"No! I will . . ."

Suddenly, he heard agonizing screams from his comrades. He turned his head and saw that the four of them have been defeated by the skeletons, and were about to be finished off.

Then Zasalamel said, "It is now time . . . for all of you to disappear."

Cassandra then punched Siegfried in the face and knocked him down. Then she and the skeletons raised their weapons high, ready to finish off the five warriors. Siegfried looked deep into the swordswoman's eyes. He couldn't believe that he utterly failed. He could no longer fulfill his promise to the Hero King.

_Algol . . . I'm sorry._

But all of a sudden, the skeletons were destroyed in an instant, much to Zasalamel's surprise.

"What? What is the meaning of this?"

Then something was thrown at Soul Calibur, knocking the sword out of Cassandra's hand. Suddenly, the blue aura that surrounded her disappeared, her wings vanished, and her hair and eyes returned to their normal color. She then collapsed and Siegfried quickly got up and caught her with his arms. It appeared that she was unconscious and drained of her energy. Then suddenly, the spirit sword traveled to Cassandra and re-entered her body.

Suddenly, a voice cried out, "Your evil deeds cannot be ignored!"

Then a woman jumped out from the shadows and landed between Siegfried and Zasalamel. The knight saw that it was a Japanese woman with long black hair tied in a ponytail. Her outfit was a red ninja suit with black shoulder pads, armguards and leg guards. On her back were two small short swords. Siegfried couldn't help but notice that one of them had an evil aura, just like Soul Edge.

Zasalamel chuckled. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the runaway ninja that was once part of the secret Fu-Ma ninja clan. I believe that your name is Taki, if I'm not mistaken. I have heard numerous rumors about you."

The ninja quickly pulled out her swords. "Then you should know that I have the skills to take you down!"

She then rushed to the enigma, but he quickly dodged and jumped high into the air, landing on top of the pillar.

"We will duel, ninja, but not right now. Circumstances have now changed."

Siegfried shouted, "Coward!"

The enigma merely smiled. "I'm just being cautious right now. We'll meet again in the future, but it won't be like this time."

Suddenly he disappeared into the shadows. Taki sighed and placed her swords back. She then turned and walked up to Siegfried, who was still holding Cassandra. The ninja placed her hand on the girl's hand.

"She'll be fine, but she needs a lot of rest. I believe that your other friends will be fine too."

She then got up and turned, ready to leave. Siegfried then called out, "Wait! Who are you and what are you doing now?"

"Didn't you here that man? I'm Taki, a nuke-in from the Fu-Ma ninja clan. I must pursue that man and see what his intentions are. Siegfried, you need to watch over that girl. Be her pillar of support, and give her the strength she needs to not only get over the loss of her sister, but also to control the sword's power."

"You mean Soul Calibur? Wait! How do you-"

"I saw when the one who created it sealed it within her. I know what's going on right now. You all must head north. Her sister is now targeting the daughter of the Dread Pirate."

"Cervantes' daughter? Ivy?"

"Yes. Although I would care less about that woman, Soul Edge will grow even more powerful if it absorbs that woman's soul. I must leave now, but we will meet again."

She then jumped high into the sky and disappeared. Siegfried stood where he was for a long time, thinking about all that Taki told him.

_She's right. Cassandra needs all of the emotional support she needs right now, for she must stop Sophitia and Soul Edge from the destroying the world. I have to stay by her side, no matter what happens._

Suddenly, he heard moans from Kilik, Xianghua, Hilde, and Rock. All four of them had regained consciousness. Siegfried quickly rushed to them.

"Are you all alright?"

Hilde put a head on her head as if she had a terrible headache. "I sure had better days. What happened?"

"Well . . ."

**

* * *

**

Later, in Cassandra's room

Everyone was in Cassandra's chamber, with the Athenian sound asleep. Siegfried had explained everything to everyone else, and then they began planning on what to do next.

Hilde was the first to speak up. "So if the ninja's words are true, then we better head for London at dawn."

Xianghua replied, "I'm sure that woman didn't make up that story, but I think we all agree that we must get there as soon as we can tomorrow."

Rock then said, "Then we should all get some rest. We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow."

All nodded in agreement. As they headed back to their rooms, Kilik noticed that Siegfried was still by Cassandra's side. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I just want to stay by her side for a little while."

"Very well. But make sure that you get some rest too."

Kilik then closed the door behind him, leaving Siegfried alone with Cassandra. For a while, he stared at her beautiful face. She has gone through so much, and she was carrying a great burden within her heart. Siegfried then leaned forward and kissed her gently on the cheek. He then took her hand and held it tightly.

"I will always be by your side, Cassandra. Always."


	11. What Lies Ahead

Hey everyone! Sorry about the long wait. I'm on break right now so more chapters will be coming in soon!

* * *

Chapter 10: What Lies Ahead

_Cassandra opened her eyes and found herself in total darkness. There was no one in sight and no source of light. She was all alone in the dark._

_"What . . . is this place? And where is everyone?"_

_Suddenly, flashes of light appeared out of nowhere, forcing her to cover her eyes. With each flash, she saw images. When she looked closely, she saw a monster, attacking her friends. She looked closer and saw that the monster was her, and within her hands was Soul Calibur._

_"What? What's going on?"_

_Suddenly, she heard a voice saying, "You're becoming a monster . . . just like me."_

_The Athenian quickly turned around and froze instantly. It was Sophitia._

_"Face it little sister, you can't control the power within you. Power without control transforms one into a hideous monster. Come! Join me! Let's kill everyone and destroy this world together!"_

_Cassandra furiously shook her head. "No! I don't want to become a monster! I don't want to hurt my friends and kill everyone!"_

_Suddenly, mysterious creatures from the shadows came from behind her and grabbed her arms and legs. She tried to break free, but they were overpowering her._

_Then Sophitia said to her, "You disappoint me, Cassandra. Resistance is futile. Soon . . . you will give in to the power within you . . . and you will become a monster."_

_The girl tried even harder to break free, but it was no use. The monsters then pulled her to deeper darkness._

_"No! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

* * *

Cassandra immediately opened her eyes and shot up. She suddenly realized that it was a just a dream. But she had a bad feeling about the images she saw.

_They all felt so real. . . _

Suddenly, she remembered Zasalamel and her encounter with him.

_He was trying to unleash Soul Calibur's power! So what-?_

Then the images in her dream came back to her. She suddenly realized it. She indeed became a monster and tried to hurt her friends.

"No! Everyone!"

She quickly got up and ran to the foyer. Once she got there, she saw Siegfried, who seemed alright. The knight walked up to her.

"Cassandra, are you-?"

"I tried to kill everyone last night, didn't I?"

Siegfried seemed surprised when she said those words. He then frowned and looked down.

Cassandra knew that she was right. "I'm . . . becoming a monster."

"That's not true, Cassandra!"

"It is true! Don't you see? Zasalamel was right! I'm no different from my sister! I can't control the power within me!"

"Yes you can Cassandra!"

"Don't try to fool me! I can't do all of this on my own! This is all just too much for me!"

She then fell to her knees and cried. Tears began pouring out from her eyes and her screams became loud with agony. The knight stared at her for a while, wondering what to do.

He then knelt down and lifted her chin. The next thing he did really surprised the girl. He licked the tears from her eyes. Then he kissed her on the forehead before wrapping his arms around her and hugging her so tightly.

"You're not alone, Cassandra. You never will be. You don't realize how blessed you are. You have so many friends beside you who are willing to help you carry your burden and doing their best to ease your pain. We'll all fight alongside you, share happy moments together, and shed tears with you."

Siegfried then looked straight into Cassandra's eyes with an unwavering conviction. "I'll watch over you and protect you . . . because I know what you're going through. When I wielded Soul Calibur, I thought that no one would ever understand what I was going through. I thought that it would be best for everyone just stayed away from me and leave me alone so no one would get hurt. But I was wrong, for I was hurting myself. I needed support from loved ones. Cassandra, you're not going to go through this alone . . . I'll always be there for you. I promise."

The girl looked down with a little confusion. "We've only just met, but you've been acting like my guardian . . . like our bond has grown in such short amount of time."

The knight chuckled a little. "I know. It's a little bit strange. But I meant what I said. I will protect you."

Cassandra looked backed into Siegfried's eyes with tears becoming to come out again in hers.

"Thank you . . ."

* * *

**Outside the temple**

Hilde, Kilik, Xianghua and Rock readied all of the horses for the long journey ahead of them. If what the ninja told them was true, Sophitia's next target, Ivy Valentine, was in grave danger. They needed to get to London as quickly as possible. All of a sudden, everyone saw Cassandra and Siegfried emerging from the temple. The Athenian looked at all of them with a sad look on her face.

"Everyone . . . I know what I did last night . . . and I'm terribly sorry for trying to hurt you."

Xianghua ran up to her and hugged her. "Cassandra, it's okay. We know that it was not your fault at all. If anyone is to be blamed, it should be that bastard Zasalamel for manipulating you."

The Athenian pulled away. "I know . . . but I'll try not to worry you."

Hilde then got on her horse. "Well then, shall we head for London?"

* * *

It took them a whole week to get across Europe. Sometimes they stayed at inns at night, but other times they had to make camp near the road. Eventually they made it to the northern border of France. With luck, Hilde managed to find a ship that was heading for England and paid for all of them.

That evening, Cassandra was all by herself on deck, looking across the sapphire sea. It was so beautiful and crystal clear. She kind of envied it.

_I'm so . . . clouded with uncertainty in my heart. Lately I've been finding myself unsure about what to do next . . . and what I should be fighting for. If only my mind can become like water . . . become crystal clear._

Suddenly, she heard someone approach her from behind. She turned and saw that it was Hilde.

"Oh. Princess . . . You kind of startled me for a second."

"My apologies. I couldn't help but notice that you had something on my mind."

Cassandra looked back to the sea. "A whole lot is on my mind. I know that you're all here to support me, but . . . I can't help but feel lost and tired sometimes. I've got a heavy burden on my heart and there are times where I find myself of the future. It can be very . . . frightening."

Hilde walked towards Cassandra's side and leaned on the ship, gazing out to the sea. "I know how you feel. I've felt that way a lot when I took over the throne of Wolfkrone."

The swordswoman looked at the princess with a little confusion. "How's that?"

"When my father became insane, I had to take over for him. I was trained very well for the job as princess, but sometimes I was afraid that I would mess up and let everyone down. There were even times where I wished that everything would just disappear . . .

"But I would always remind myself that I can take care of Wolfkrone because I have people I can count on to support me and won't ever leave me alone. I know that I can be prepared for what lies ahead of me . . . even if I don't know what the future has in store for me."

Hilde then looked back into Cassandra's eyes. "We're all here to support you all the way. We'll help you in any way we can and never abandon you."

The Athenian slowly gave a small smile as tears came out of her eyes. She then wrapped her arms around Hilde.

"Thank you so much, Hilde."

The princess merely smiled as she began wrapping her arms around Cassandra. As they pulled away from each other, they looked back to the sea for one last time, each of them silently vowing to prepare themselves for the future that's yet to come.

* * *

The ship sailed for two days before it finally reached the southern border of England. When they all got off the boat, Xianghua asked, "So how much longer to London?"

Rock answered, "Without stopping, about a whole day."

"What? That long?"

Suddenly, they heard a voice crying out, "It's too bad that you're not gonna get there in time!"

The next thing they knew, lightning came out of the sky and attacked everyone in the harbor. The men, women and children went running frantically in all directions, trying to avoid the bolts. The six warriors pulled out their weapons and stood their ground.

Kilik then called out, "Who goes there?"

Suddenly, a man landed in front of them. When he got up, Kilik and Xianghua were in shock.

"Maxi?"


	12. No Return

AAAAAHHHHH! I'm sooooo sorry everyone! I've been just so busy lately with lots of stuff! Here's the new chapter! I'll try to upload the next one as soon as I can!

* * *

Chapter 11: No Return

Kilik and Xianghua stood in shock. They could not believe it. Standing in front of them was their very old companion, now corrupted in evil.

The dancer shook her head in fury. "You . . . you can't be Maxi!"

"Whether you accept it or not, it's me. I'm now a loyal servant to the Red Goddess of Death."

Cassandra was shocked by his words. "You . . . work for Sophitia?"

"Oh, so you're her obnoxious little sister. She gave me orders to find and kill you ASAP. Do you know how much of a pain you are to her? It's to the point where she doesn't want you to exist anymore."

Kilik pointed his rod at the pirate. "You will not hurt Cassandra, for I'm going to stop you!"

Maxi swung his nunchaku. "You can try, but it's not just gonna be me you have to face!"

Suddenly, they heard splashes from the ocean. They all turned and saw pirates jumping out from the water, flying over them, and landing beside Maxi. They all appeared zombie-like.

"Red Goddess brought them back from the dead. Said that I needed a good army to take y'all down. Now let's get this party started!"

The pirates then charged to the six warriors, and vice versa. Kilik and Maxi began swinging their weapons at each other, trying to land a hit. The pirate then kicking at the monk, but the latter quickly dodged and blocked the attacks. Then Maxi delivered a powerful kick in Kilik's stomach that sent him flying backwards and landing hard. Xianghua immediately rushed to the pirate and kicked him in the face, knocking him back a few feet. She then twirled around and slashed his sword at him, but he managed to block her attacks. Kilik quickly got up and jumped over Xianghua. Bringing his rod over his head, he charged it up and stabbed it into the ground, creating a wave of energy that sent Maxi flying.

As he got up, he sneered at his old friends. "Seems like you two have gotten better."

All of a sudden, a red aura surrounded him. "But I'm not going down that easily."

* * *

Meanwhile, Rock was knocking away all the pirates that stood in his way. He swung his mace at one of them, sending him flying. Then he grabbed another that came from behind and hurled him into yet another pirate. As more pirates came in, the White Giant jumped into the sky, and then came back down, slamming his mace into the ground and sending all of them flying.

Suddenly, a pirate came flying behind, without Rock noticing, and ready to stab him with a dagger. But then he was impaled with a red spear in his back and fell dead in front of the White Giant. He turned and saw that it was Hilde who saved his life.

"You have my dear thanks, princess!"

Suddenly, she ran past him and slashed a pirate at his throat. Quickly picking up her spear, she readied her weapons as more pirates came flooding in.

"Save the thanks for later. Right now, we're too bust for that."

Rock silently nodded in agreement and readied his mace. Then the two charged at their foes.

* * *

Cassandra blocked an attack from a pirate, and then stabbed him in the heart with her sword. Two more came from behind, ready to stab her with their weapons, but she quickly noticed them and slashed at their necks, beheading them in an instant. As another pirate came flying towards her, she quickly back flipped, kicking high into the air.

All of a sudden, a pirate with a charged up sword came running towards Cassandra and swung the blade at her. She managed to block the attack, but it left her stunned and wide open. The pirate then hurled Cassandra to the ground and held the sword at her neck. But then he was knocked away by a giant zweihänder. Siegfried then rushed over to the swordswoman and gave his hand.

"Are you alright?"

Cassandra grabbed his hand and was pulled up, giving the knight a cheerful nod. Suddenly she gasped and threw her shield at an incoming pirate from behind Siegfried. The knight looked back, and then turned to Cassandra in amazement.

The girl gave a smirk. "That makes us even!"

Then she quickly rushed, picked up her shield, and began fighting more pirates. Siegfried chuckled a little.

"Guess her old self is finally back!"

As pirates closed on him, the knight quickly swung his sword and cut all of them horizontally in half. Then he quickly took his stance as more pirates came and surrounded him.

* * *

Xianghua quickly gasped in shock. "Maxi, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm getting ready to take you both down!"

Suddenly, his nunchaku was engulfed in an evil red flame and the pirate swung it around his body before he charged toward the monk and dancer.

He delivered a hard punch in Xianghua's stomach and sent her flying towards a wall, which knocked her out in an instant.

Kilik could only look in horror. "No! Xianghua!"

Suddenly, Maxi came upon him and stabbed him several times in the stomach before punching him high into the air. Then, as the monk came falling down, the pirate jumped up and kicked him hard in the back, sending him flying.

Kilik landed hard near Xianghua. As he slowly pushed himself up, he crawled to her and slowly pulled her over.

"Xiang . . . hua . . ."

The girl slowly opened her eyes. "Kilik . . . we have to beat . . . Maxi . . . no matter what . . ."

The pirate then laughed. "No one can stop me! Not even you two!"

He then charged towards them, ready to deliver the final blow. As he swung his nunchaku down on then, Cassandra quickly stood in between and blocked the attack.

"Sorry, but I'm not gonna let you hurt my friends!"

Then all of a sudden, Rock came and swung his mace at Maxi. The pirate managed to dodge, but the White Giant quickly swung again and sent him flying over to Siegfried. The knight swung his sword and sent the pirate flying again, his time over to Hilde. The princess charged her spear and stabbed Maxi with it. Then she flung him upwards and threw her spear, piercing the pirate at his stomach and sending him flying across the harbor.

For a while, Maxi just laid there. Then suddenly, he slowly got up, with gushes of blood coming out of his wounds.

"Hah! Is this the best you all can do? I haven't had enough fun yet! Let's go!"

Suddenly, an eerie voice cried out, _"Maxi, stop! That's enough! It's time to come back!"_

Cassandra gasped. That voice belonged to Sophitia.

"Sis?"

"_You must retreat for now. You can't fight them alone. I require your assistance with defeating the daughter of Cervantes."_

Maxi sighed. "Your wish is my command."

He then looked at Kilik and Xianghua. "I'll settle the score between you two later."

Suddenly, a dark hole appeared behind him and he stepped back into it and disappeared.

Xianghua ran up to the hole. "Maxi, wait!"

She was too late, as the hole disappeared itself.

"Maxi . . ."

Kilik walked up to Xianghua and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Xianghua, we can worry about him later. Right now, we must hurry. Ivy Valentine will soon be in grave danger if we don't help her."

The dancer looked into the monk's eyes and nodded. Then she lifted to her eyes to the sky. The clouds were hovering over them, but some sunlight managed to break though and shined down on the six warriors.

_Maxi . . . we will save you . . . I swear it!_


	13. Cursed Daughter

Hey everyone! Hope everyone's doing well this spring! Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 12: Cursed Daughter

The six heroes quickly readied their horses and headed north. They had assured the townsfolk that everything was alright before they left, and they were rewarded with some gold and a huge supply of food. With no time to waste, they traveled all day with no stop. When evening came, they finally reached the city.

They saw that all was quiet, which puzzled them. If Sophitia was truly after Ivy Valentine, then something chaotic should've erupted.

Cassandra was utterly confused. "Sophitia . . . what are you up to?"

Siegfried turned to her and said, "We'll find out soon enough. Let's just head over to Ivy."

"You know where she is?"

"I have a feeling where. I can sense the evil energy of Soul Edge. Since she has the blood of the evil sword running through her veins, I'm positive that it's her."

Kilik nodded in agreement. "Yes. It's very faint, but I can sense it too."

"Right. We better hurry."

* * *

**An hour later, outside the Valentine Mansion**

The six warriors stood outside a humongous mansion. It was all white: white bricks, white marble pillars, a white roof, etc. It looked like it could be filled with hundreds and hundreds of people.

Siegfried stood in front of the door with everyone else behind him. He was hesitant about going through with this. Ivy was one of the very few people who knew that he was the Azure Knight. When they tell her that her life is in danger, would she believe them? While he was Nightmare, he had always acted like he was in control of everything Ivy did. Naturally, she would most likely deep hatred for him. She might never forgive him for that he had done.

Cassandra somehow sensed his hesitation and gently turned him towards her by his shoulder. "It's alright. No matter what happens, we're all right here beside you."

Siegfried slowly nodded with a small smile on his face. Her being there with him was more than enough for him to have the strength to go through with this.

He then gave a few knocks on the door. After a short moment, the door finally opened, revealing a tall woman in a light purple dress. She had very short white hair and piercing blue eyes.

"Who are you? It's time for my tea and I don't remember having-"

Suddenly, when she saw Siegfried, she was shocked and gasped.

"You! What are you doing here?"

"Look, I just want to talk-"

The woman suddenly pulled out a sword and pointed it at Siegfried's neck.

"Get out of here or else I'll force you to do so!"

Hilde quickly stepped in between. "Please, Lady Valentine! Siegfried means what he said! We wish to talk with you. It's something very important."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Because it's a matter of life and death."

"Ha! The man who was the Azure Knight is worried about my life?"

Siegfried then moved forward. "Ivy . . . can you please just hear me out?"

The alchemist stared into the knight's eyes for a very long time. Clearly, she did not trust him. After a long time, she sighed heavily and lowers her sword.

"Alright . . . fine. But if you try to pull something off, I'm going to make you pay dearly."

She then opened the door and let everyone in.

* * *

The inside of the mansion was truly magnificent. Every inch of it was covered with luxurious things: paintings, furniture, rugs, and curtains. Everything around them was very elegant: a perfect surrounding for a proper lady. Eventually, they entered a room with a big fireplace with a huge painting of Ivy in a dark lavender dress. The alchemist then seated herself in a big red chair and crossed her legs, facing the six warriors.

"So, what is this matter of life and death?"

Hilde then spoke up. "I think it's best if we explain everything to you."

So they told Ivy everything: how Sophitia became the new host for Soul Edge, how the Hero King sealed Soul Calibur inside of Cassandra, and their encounters with Raphael, Zasalamel, and Maxi.

After hearing everything, Ivy gave a glare of interest at Cassandra. "So the powerful aura within you . . . is Soul Calibur? Interesting . . . To think that the holy sword can be sealed within a person with a pure heart of light . . . But do you all honestly think that I'm in danger?"

Xianghua got a little angry. "Of course we do! You have a whole lot of cursed blood flowing through you!"

The alchemist shook her head. "No. I only have a fraction of evil blood flowing through me."

Everyone stood in shock of her words. Ivy only had a fraction of cursed blood? Seeing the confusion within everyone's eyes she continued. "The reason I only have a fraction of the original cursed blood flowing through me is because I have an artificial soul.

"About a month ago, I was searching for Soul Calibur, but I soon realized that since I had the blood of Soul Edge running through my veins, there was no way that I could wield the holy sword. So I created an artificial soul that would wield the sword for me. But then that bastard who is my father attacked me and ended up nearly killing me by consuming most of my soul. Fortunately for me, I managed to place the artificial soul I created within my body, thus I saved myself. So to sum it all up, Cervantes stole most of my cursed blood."

Kilik nodded in agreement. "I see. Now it all makes sense. I was barely able to sense your presence because you are mostly artificial in terms of your soul."

"Yes, so I don't see any reason why Sophitia would want my soul now."

Suddenly, they heard a crackling and horrifying laugh echoing throughout the mansion. "AHAHAHAHAHA! Isabella Valentine, you are such a great fool!"

As the voice continued to laugh, the six warriors and the alchemist looked all around, trying to find its source. Suddenly, their eyes turned to a balcony where they spotted Sophitia and Maxi.

"I couldn't care less if you only have a fraction of your soul now! Cursed blood is cursed blood! And I refuse to let it go to waste! Besides, I want my darling little sister and her pathetic friends to witness a new level of my power!"

Soul Edge then appeared in her hands and she raised it high. "Say hello to my new and frightening technique! Soul Eater!"

All of a sudden, black lightning appeared around the blade. Then it sprung out and trapped Ivy in a sphere.

"What's this? What's going . . . AAAAAAAHHHH!"

Rock couldn't understand what was going on. "What is that? What's happening to Ivy?"

Suddenly, Maxi jumped down in front of the warriors. "Uh, hello? Don't you get what's going on? She's losing her evil energy to Soul Edge."

Kilik then twirled his rod and pointed it at the pirate. "We're not gonna let that happen!"

As the monk charged, Maxi sighed heavily. "We figured you'd say that."

Suddenly, they saw hands come out from the ground and slowly, dead-like people pulled themselves up. Hilde was truly disgusted.

"You keep on bringing back the dead? How dare you! You'll pay dearly for this!"

With her weapons in hand, the princess began slashing with her sword and stabbing with her spear at the zombies with such speed. Xianghua, Rock and Siegfried followed her example with their sword, mace and zweihänder respectively. Kilik charged up energy in his rod and began his duel with Maxi. As for Cassandra, she jumped up to the balcony where Sophitia was standing and slashed at her, forcing the latter to stop absorbing Ivy's energy.

The younger sister stared straight into her older sister's eyes with fierce anger. "I've had enough! I'm not going to let you harm anyone anymore! I will not hold back just because you're my sister!"

"Is that so, little sister? Well, then I won't hold back either!"

Suddenly Soul Edge transformed into a sword and shield and the two of them began to battle.

* * *

Ivy lay still where she was on the ground. She could hear the clashing of swords and cutting of flesh nearby, and could tell very easily that it was an intense battle. She couldn't let them fight without her, but she was too weak to move. Sophitia had drained a whole lot of energy from her body, leaving her feeble.

_Damn it . . . I let my guard down . . . and this happens to me . . . Is my salvation in the hands of that wretched man and his pathetic friends?_

Suddenly, her sword, Valentine, began to vibrate in her hands, almost like it was trying to communicate with her.

_Valentine . . . do you think . . . we can fight?_

The snake sword vibrated violently, as if it was saying yes.

_You think so, huh? Well then . . . Let's go._

Slowly but steadily, Ivy got up from the ground and quickly noticed that zombies were beginning to surround her.

"I'll play with you all . . . for a little while . . ."

* * *

Well, I'm on break now, so the next chapter might be coming soon! Stay tune!


	14. A Fight to the Death

AAAAHHHHH! I'M SO SORRY EVERYONE! I'VE BEEN SO BUSY AGAIN! Ugh, and plus I've been having trouble coming up with this chapter. My apologies everyone, though I'm glad that you've all been patient. This one's kinda long with a lot of action. Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 13: A Fight to the Death

Ivy's beloved sword changed into a whip, and with one swing, she destroyed all the zombies surrounding her. She gave a mere smirk.

"Is this truly the best these pathetic low-life monsters can do?"

Suddenly, more zombies appeared before her. Valentine then broke into pieces and floated all around the alchemist in the air. Then they flew in all directions, killing all of her enemies. All of the pieces then returned to Ivy and were chained together again. But before she knew it, even more zombies appeared before her, eventually surrounding her. The alchemist gave a sinister grin.

"Well . . . there are quite a lot of them . . . This should be fun!"

* * *

` Cassandra and Sophitia had their swords locked with each other. The two sisters stared into each others' eyes; the younger had eyes of anger and rage while the older had eyes of insanity and bloodlust. After they pulled away, Cassandra pointed her sword at Sophitia.

"I see now. Clearly you are not my sister. The Sophitia that I once knew would never do the atrocities that you are doing right now. So I won't hesitate in fighting you!"

"Hahahaha! But can you stand against this new power?"

Suddenly, the Red Goddess lifted Soul Edge high into the air, which gave out a blinding red light that forced the younger sister to shield her eyes. When the light soon faded, Cassandra looked out and gasped. What she saw before her was a monster, one that took the form of her sister. But she now had black demonic wings, darker hair, paler skin, and eyes that glowed a color that looked more bloody red than before.

"Thanks to the energy I stole from the cursed daughter of that wretched pirate, I'm now stronger than ever! Try this on for size, my dear little sister!"

With her left hand, she created a fire ball and immediately threw it at Cassandra. The Grecian managed to quickly roll away, but the spot where she once stood was set to flames by Sophitia's attack. Cassandra looked back in shock.

_This is . . . the true power of Soul Edge?_

She then turned her attention back to Sophitia and quickly got up, readying her sword and shield and taking her stance.

_I have to end this battle as soon as I can!_

* * *

Kilik and Maxi were swinging and twirling their weapons at each other with lightning speed. Neither one backed down and kept on fighting with a wild rage. The monk had a look on his face which showed that he was serious and refused to give up. The pirate, however, had an evil and sinister look, showing that he couldn't wait to place suffering on his enemies. After a long while, Kilik pulled back with his rod out in front of him, ready to block another attack.

"Tell me the truth, Maxi. Why did you become so foolish and decided to work for Sophitia as her servant? You have journeyed to find your sworn enemy, Astaroth, to avenge your comrades. That has been your only goal. So how would helping your new master bring your desire?"

"For your information, Sophitia knocked out that freak along with that blue monster dude and his other lackeys not too long ago."

"What? Then why-"

"Hasn't it gotten into your head at all? Do I have to repeat myself over and over again? I just love doing my job, and that is too power up Soul Edge! Simple as that!"

`Suddenly, Maxi's nunchaku emanated a dark red flame and he took his stance once again.

"So if you plan to get in my way, I'm gonna have to kill you!"

Kilik's mind was racing with thoughts. _So his mind has also been corrupted, just like Sophitia. This man . . . No . . . This maniac monster before me is clearly not my friend. I must find a way to free his soul from the evil that has enslaved him! And my best bet right now is the Dvapara-Yuga!_

Kilik then shifted a little and took his battle stance.

"Then I will not hold back! Come for me Maxi!"

Then they suddenly charged to each other at lightning speed.

* * *

Xianghua kept on slashing the zombies around her with her graceful dances. But she could not stop. The more zombies she defeated, the more they will come. There seemed to be no end to them.

"Darn it! When is this ever going to end?"

She heard a big huge smash behind her and turned to see that it was Rock, who had just crushed a horde of zombies with his huge mace.

"The only way to stop this is to eliminate the source. Since Sophitia used Soul Edge to bring out the dead from their graves . . ."

They suddenly heard a whip behind them and turned and saw that it was Ivy.

"Then our only hope is for Cassandra to defeat her sister."

Xianghua was shocked. "What are you doing? You shouldn't be moving!"

"Ha! You think that I'm going to let this Sophitia do whatever she wants with me? I think not. Besides, I just can't let all of you have all the fun."

"But-"

Suddenly, they heard a spear fly behind them, stabbing a zombie to the ground. Hilde quickly ran up and picked up her spear.

"If Lady Ivy can fight and wants to, then let her. Right now, we have to cover Cassandra's back. So stay focus."

The alchemist, the White Giant and the dancer all nodded in agreement and charged at more zombies.

Siegfried cut down a zombie in half with his zweihänder and swung it to knock away more monsters. He looked up and saw Cassandra fighting her sister, who had just transformed into a demon. The knight was now worried. Sophitia has now taken on a stronger form, and Cassandra might not stand a chance on her own.

_There's no way I'm not going to let her die! I have to help her!_

With thoughts of saving Cassandra, Siegfried charged through a horde of zombies and ran up to the sisters' battle.

* * *

Cassandra kept on jumping and back flipping as she dodged Sophitia's fireballs. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get near her sister. She was clearly at a disadvantage. As she rolled away from another fireball, the Red Goddess laughed like a maniac.

"Hahahahaha! Is this the best you can do little sister? I was expecting a great fight with you but you're nothing but a weakling!"

The young Grecian pointed her sword at her sister. "No matter what, I will stop you, even if it costs me my life!"

Sophitia smirked and charged at her sister with Soul Edge. She rapidly slashed the evil sword at her younger sister, who was desperately blocking with her shield. Suddenly, the Red Goddess charged up Soul Edge and swung her blade, breaking Cassandra's guard and slashed upwards, sending the young Grecian flying. Sophitia then flew up, and continued slashing Soul Edge at Cassandra, inflicting more wounds on her. Then the Red Goddess backed away and created a huge fireball in her hands. When it was really huge, she threw it at her younger sister, who was still in the air. As Cassandra was hit, she gave out an anguished cry as she felt her body burned.

* * *

Kilik quickly turned and saw Cassandra getting burned in the air. He gasped as he saw Sophitia in her demon form and the evil sword emanating a bright red glow.

"No way . . . is Soul Edge getting stronger?"

Suddenly, Maxi kicked Kilik in the face and knocked the monk away.

"Hey Kilik! Stop focusing on my master and stay on me! I want to have so much fun as I beat the living daylights out of you!"

As Kilik slowly got up, his rod began to glow. The pirate was confused of what was going on.

"Hey. What are you trying to pull off now, Kilik?"

"If you want me to put all of my focus on you, then I shall. I did not want to use this on you . . . but you leave me with no other choice! Ling Shen Su Bo!"

The monk ran up to Maxi at lightning and began pounding his rod on the pirate. He then kicked Maxi in the stomach and stabbed him with his rod in the chest. Powering his Kali-Yuga even more, Kilik brought his rod over his head and slammed it down hard on the pirate.

As the monk caught his breath, he looked down at his old friend, who was knocked out cold and lying unconscious on the ground.

"Nothing personal Maxi, but I have a friend to help out right now. I'll settle things with you later."

* * *

Kilik then ran to where Cassandra was. She really needed all the help she could get.

The young Grecian lied on the ground, unable to move. Her body was covered with blood from her wounds and burns from Sophitia fireball attack. Her clothes were completely covered with tears, making her look even more like a wreck. She felt agonizing pain all over herself.

Sophitia gave another evil laugh. "Come on little sister! You have so much power within you, yet you're not using it! Come on! Unleash Soul Calibur! Show me you're true power!"

"N-no . . ."

"What?"

Cassandra slowly lifted her head and looked straight into Sophitia's crimson eyes. "I won't . . . become a monster . . . like you . . . I . . . refuse to . . . give into the power . . . within me . . ."

Sophitia shook her head. "You disappoint me, little sister. Then prepare to die!"

The Red Goddess brought her sword over her head and brought it down on her sister. But suddenly, Siegfried quickly stepped in between the sisters and blocked Sophitia's attack.

"Not if I can help it! If you intend to kill Cassandra, you'll have to kill me first!"

The knight pushed his zweihänder and knocked Sophitia away. Then he quickly charged, swinging his sword at the Red Goddess and pushing her back.

Meanwhile, Cassandra slowly pushed herself up, despite the huge pain in her body, and looked to see Siegfried fighting Sophitia with such determination and a powerful fighting spirit. He was giving all that he had.

"Siegfried . . ."

Suddenly, Kilik appeared right beside her, bending down and holding her steadily.

"Don't move, Cassandra. We need to treat your wo-"

"No! I have . . . I have to help Siegfried! I can't let him fight alone!"

As she tried to get up, she fell back down and the monk quickly caught her.

"You must regain your strength. Sophitia is after you, which is why Siegfried is buying us time. He knows that he doesn't have enough power to-"

Suddenly, Cassandra had an idea. "Wait a minute! That's it! Kilik, remember when we were fighting Raphael? I transferred some of my powers to your pendant. So maybe I can do the reverse and borrow some of its own. I know it's crazy, but it's worth a shot, right?"

The monk quickly looked down at the Dvapara-Yuga, which was now emanating a small glow because it was now near Cassandra. What the Grecian suggested did seem very risky. Who knows what could happen. But if they don't take a chance, then they don't have a chance against Sophitia.

With a heavy sigh, he took the pendant off of his chest and placed it into Cassandra's hand. "Alright, I'll lend you its power. But promise me that you'll be careful."

The Grecian silently nodded, and the two of them closed her eyes, focusing on the powers of both the stone and the sword within her. The monk then chanted, "Dvapara-Yuga! Give all of your power to Cassandra!"

Suddenly, the light of the stone glowed brighter, and it then traveled to Cassandra, whose body began to shine with a light blue glow.

* * *

Siegfried held his zweihänder close to him as Sophitia kept on throwing fireballs at him. Suddenly she charged towards him at high speed and swung Soul Edge with such force that in knocked him back. As she slashed with even more force, it made his sword fall out of his hands, and even crushed through most of his upper armor, leaving a big tear on his black shirt and a thin stream of blood on his chest.

The knight quickly tried to get back up, but the Red Goddess stomped on him and pointed his sword on his chest.

"Looks like you're just as pathetic as Cassandra. I'll have so much fun as I rob of you and your weak friends of your souls."

She then lifted Soul Edge above her head to deliver the final blow. But then a blue shot of light hit her right in the middle of her chest, causing her to fall back. As she quickly got back up, wincing a little in pain, she saw her attacker: Cassandra.

However, the younger sister was different. Her body was emanating a shining blue glow and around her neck was a shining green stone that had a holy presence.

But the Red Goddess merely smirked. "Ha! So I see that you're back up on your feet. But you're still hot using Soul Calibur."

"I'm not going to use that against you. I have something better in mind. Try dodging this!"

With her sword in hand, she began slashing at the Red Goddess with tremendous speed. The older sister was barely able to block the younger's attack. Eventually, Cassandra saw an opening and swung her sword upwards, sending her opponent flying.

Then the young Grecian charged up her sword, making it shine bright with a blue light, showing the tremendous power. When the Red Goddess was at the right spot, Cassandra then swung her sword, sending a blue ray of power from the sword, which hit Sophitia hard in the chest and knocked her back even more. She gave out an anguished cry as the holy power shot all through her body, fighting the evil power that dwelt within her and gulfing her within a blue flame. She then fell to the ground, the flame surrounding her body slowly fading.

* * *

All of the zombies dropped to the ground, as the power that resurrected them had weakened. Ivy, Rock, Xianghua and Hilde turned their attention up to Sophitia, who was lying on the ground, defeated by Cassandra. Suddenly, a purple aura arose from Sophitia and made its way to Ivy, slowly entering her body.

The alchemist placed her heart on her chest with a face of utter sadness. "How long will it be . . . before I am free from this dreadful curse?"

She then proceeded to Cassandra, Siegfried and Kilik, with the other three warriors right behind her.

* * *

The young Grecian made her way to her sister, despite the unbearable wounds on her legs. Sophitia's black wings had been clipped off from the last attack She then pointed her sword at the Red Goddess, ready to finish her off.

"This has gone far enough, Sophitia . . . It's time to end it."

Suddenly, a weak voice came from her defeated opponent.

"Do it then . . . It's what I deserve . . ."

Cassandra was shocked. The voice didn't sound evil and insane at all. It was soft and gentle . . . the way Sophitia's voice was before.

"Sis?"

Sophitia pushed her hands on the ground and slowly lifted her upper body up and looked straight to Cassandra's eyes. Much to the surprise of her, the knight and the monk, the older sister's eyes were not a crimson red. They were green, their original color.

"Cassandra . . . please end this . . . before the demon inside me comes out again and controls my body . . ."

"Sis, I don't understand. What's going on? You're not your insane self anymore?"

"Please Cassandra. Just kill me now before-"

Before Sophitia could finish, red lightning sprung from Soul Edge and surrounded her body. She gave out a painful cry.

Cassandra's eyes widened in anger at the evil sword. "Soul Edge! Stop torturing my sister!"

She then proceeded to destroy it, but suddenly, Maxi landed near Sophitia, grabbed her and jumped toward the nearest window.

"Man you are one hell of a bitch! Just you wait! You'll pay for this!"

The pirate then jumped out of the window.

"Wait! Sis!"

Cassandra was about to the window, but the wounds on her legs were swelling, causing her to stumble. Siegfried quickly rushed forward and grabbed her just before she hit the floor.

"Cassandra, don't move! We need to do something about your injuries!"

The Grecian panted heavily, trying to bear the pain within her body. As her breathing slowed down, she looked into the knight's handsome emerald eyes with a look of questioning.

"Siegfried . . . is there still hope . . . for my sister? Is there a way . . . to save her . . . from Soul Edge?"

She then fell unconscious, the pain and blood loss finally getting to her.

As Kilik made his way to the two of them, the knight just stared at Cassandra's beautiful face, which was covered with burns and blood.

"Maybe, Cassandra . . . Perhaps there is a way to save her . . ."

* * *

Well, there you have it folks. I know that it's summer, but that doesn't mean that I'll be free all of the time to write chapters. But I promise to upload as soon as I can.

By the way, you SC fans must be aware of the new SC5 coming out sometime next year. Looks cool, but Sophitia's son is now the new protagonist? Did not see that one coming. Guess I'm going to have to rethink my ending for this story.

Well, until next time everyone! Have a great summer!


	15. To be Free

Chapter 14: To be Free

Cassandra slowly opened her eyes and pushed herself up. As she became more awake, she found herself on a huge bed with light violet pillows and bed sheets. She was no longer in her blue outfit and white gloves and boots and was now wearing an elegant white gown. She looked around and studied the room she was in. It was decorated with white furniture and purple glass vases filled with white roses. Hung on the light lavender walls were large portraits of Ivy and some other people she didn't recognize.

_Hmm . . . they must be Ivy's family._

She then turned to her right, where she found a white canopy, decorated with light violet curtains. The full moon was shining bright in the night sky and was surrounded with sparkling stars that shined like diamonds in the heavens. Below was a small lake that was reflecting the moonlight. The whole view just took the Grecian's breath away.

"Wow . . . I wish I can share this view with every-"

Suddenly, Cassandra's memory all came back to her. Her fierce battle with the Red Goddess, Kilik giving her the power of the Dvapara-Yuga, and Sophitia, the one she knew and loved, calling out to her and begging her to kill her.

Cassandra knew that it was no mistake. She knew that it was the true Sophitia that was talking to her. Her sister's conscience had been inside her all this time. But now there was a problem.

"That other conscience that dwells within Sophitia is still inside and has probably regained control . . . How do I exactly draw it out of my sister's body without hurting her and destroy it? I have a bad feeling that Soul Calibur and Kilik's pendant will not be enough. I need something else . . . but what?"

Suddenly, Cassandra snapped out of her deep thoughts as the white door to her left slowly opened. She saw that it was Siegfried, but he too was not in his usual attire of silver armor. Instead he was wearing a loose white shirt that exposed a fraction of his stunning chest, dark brown pants and ebony black boots. And his long golden hair was tied in a ponytail, leaving only his bangs out in front of his face. She just couldn't take her light green eyes off of him. He was just so handsome and she just wanted to strip him of his shirt and see his entire torso. Realizing what she was thinking, the Grecian nervously shook her head, ashamed of herself for having such a seductive thought.

_How could I be thinking such thoughts? I just got to know him for a couple of weeks and . . . Oh god, what is wrong with me?_

"Cassandra . . ."

The Grecian broke out of her thoughts again by the knight's masculine voice. As she turned back to him, she gasped as he quickly walked up to her bed and wrapped his strong arms around her slender body. He slowly pulled her closer and lessened the space between them.

"Thank goodness you're alright. You had us worried."

As he pulled back, Cassandra looked at him with a confused look on her face.

"Why? Why was everyone so worried?"

"You lost a lot of blood from your battle, and you also got a couple of burns on your body. Ivy managed to treat your wounds, but she was worried that you wouldn't be able to move, let alone live. According to her, no one would have been able to stand both cuts and burns like you did."

"So then . . . why am I alright now?"

Siegfried looked down, hesitating for a moment about what he has to say. "Kilik thinks it's because of the power of Soul Calibur . . . He thinks that since the sword has now become a part of you, it has to keep you alive in order to survive."

The Grecian placed her hand over her heart, feeling the sword's power flowing through her body . . . through her veins. She was now becoming dependant on the sword for survival.

"Will I . . . ever be free of this burden?"

The knight slowly took her hand and began rubbing his thumb on her palm and looking at her with his dark emerald eyes he said, "You will be someday. Until then . . . I will protect you."

Cassandra looked back at him, seeing the determination and conviction in his eyes. She knew that he was telling the truth. She then asked, "How are the others?"

"They had a couple of small injuries, but they're alright. And thanks to you defeating Sophitia, Ivy was able to regain her energy, so she's doing alright herself.

"That's good." She then both placed her hands in his and asked, "Siegfried . . . about Sophitia-"

"I know. I already talked to Ivy and Kilik about it."

"And?"

"They both said that there is a possibility that Sophitia can be freed from the evil conscience that is controlling her body, but it won't be easy . . . Since you defeated it before, it's likely that it will now search for more power, gaining more control of your sister . . . making the chances of saving her lower . . ."

Cassandra's face was suddenly overcome with sadness and tears began rolling down her cheeks. "So in other words . . . there's no point in trying to save my sister . . . I will have to kill her."

"No. I will not let you kill her."

The Grecian looked back into the knight's eyes, surprised at what he just said. "If there is still a chance of saving Sophitia, then you must take that chance, even if it's low and no one agrees with you. Even if the odds are against you, you cannot give up, not after overcoming so much. I know that you will save her . . . because I will be by your side when you do it."

Siegfried then took one of his hands and began wiping the tears from Cassandra's face as he continued. "You're the type of the person who cherishes loved ones so much. You love your family with all of your heart and will do everything in your power to save them, especially your sister. This one opportunity may never come again, so you have to take it if you want to save her . . . which I know that you do."

Cassandra removed his hand from her cheek and asked, "But what if you're wrong? What if I can't save her at all?"

The knight sighed heavily and said, "Then . . . you must live . . . Don't allow yourself to die just to join them in death. I know that that is not what they want you to do, right? What has happened in the past cannot change, and the only thing that you can do with it is to accept it. You cannot dwell in the past. You have to live in the present and be ready for the future."

"But . . . I'll be all alone . . ."

Siegfried removed his hands from Cassandra's and gripped her shoulders. He then told her with a bold voice, "No you won't. I've been telling you this over and over again. I will always be right by your side. No matter what happens, you will never be alone. Whether you save Sophitia or not, I will always be with you, watching over you. And it's not just because I promised Algol . . . I really have the true desire in my heart to stand beside you . . . and be a source of strength for you."

He then loosened his grip on her shoulders and pulled her close to his body once again, letting one of his hands stroke her short blond hair. Then the Grecian slowly brought her hands around the knight's back and hugged him back, drawing the two of them closer to each other, and buried her head on his shoulders, her last tears damping his shirt. They stayed like this for a long time before they pulled themselves from each other.

Cassandra looked into Siegfried's eyes again with a small smile and said, "Thank you . . . You know, ever since we met, I've been seeing the true man you really are, and you've been such a strong yet kindhearted man and I have begun seeing you as an irreplaceable friend . . . But . . . now . . ."

She then took one of her hands and placed it on his check, running the back of her fingers on his scar. "I think that . . . we're now more than just friends . . . Siegfried . . . I know that this may sound crazy since we just met, but I . . . I lo-"

The knight placed a finger on her lips and stopped her from talking.

"I know, Cassandra . . . You don't have to say anything . . . because I have the same feelings for you too . . ."

Bringing his hand down from her mouth, Siegfried slowly pulled Cassandra closer and locked their lips into a kiss. At first, the girl trembled, unsure at what to do, but a voice inside her head kept on telling her not to resist him, and it wouldn't stop repeating it. Finally deciding to agree, she brought her arms around Siegfried's neck, drawing him closer to her body and pulling him down to her bed. They stayed in each other's arms for a long time, and the minutes felt like hours. Eventually, they broke the kiss, panting for air. Then they looked at each other, unsure of what overcame them.

Siegfried then started pushing himself off of Cassandra. "I should go."

He then got off the bed and headed for the door, but then he felt Cassandra's hand gripping on his shirt very tightly.

"Wait! Please don't! Don't go!"

"Cassandra, I-"

The Grecian jumped from her bed and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Please, I beg of you! Don't leave me! Don't leave me alone! You promised, right? You promised that you'll always be by my side and give me strength. I need you right now . . . Please . . . stay with me . . . I love you . . ."

The knight hesitated a little bit, but then he gently pulled her hands from her waist and turned around. He then scooped her into his arms, walked over to the bed and slowly laid her down. He then took off his boots and carefully climbed next to her, stopping when his face met hers.

"Alright . . . I'll stay . . . I love you too . . ."

Wrapping his arms around her waist, Siegfried kissed Cassandra again, more deeply, more passionately, and more lovingly. She then pulled out his hair tie and allowed his handsome mane of shining gold fall from his back.

As they broke the kiss and fell asleep in each other's arms, Siegfried silently renewed his vow. _I will never leave you alone, Cassandra . . . I'll always be here for you . . . I love you . . ._

* * *

Sophitia found herself floating in total darkness. There was no one within her sight, and no light to give her hope. She was all alone. But she would not give into despair.

_Cassandra . . . you have truly gotten stronger . . . Now I know for certain that you will stop Soul Edge and the evil conscience that dwells within me . . . and I will finally be set free to rest in peace . . . I am truly sorry for placing such a grave task on you, but you have both the strength and the will to do it . . . I'm counting on you . . ._

Suddenly, a giant red flame appeared before her, and slowly, it took on her form. Sophitia knew what this entity was: the Red Goddess of Death, the one who had taken control of her body.

"Fool. Do you honestly think that I will let your sister defeat me?"

"Yes . . . My sister has found such strength and resolve. I believe with all of my heart that she will defeat both you and Soul Edge."

"Don't be so sure. I just need to power up more to beat her, and I know a place or two where I can get more power."

"What? But how?"

"There's no need for you to know. Just know that it's hopeless for you and your sister. Soul Edge shall devour every last soul in this world and I shall reign supreme over all, even the heavens."

In a flash, the Red Goddess vanished, and Sophitia was left again in the blackness. Tears began rolling down her cheeks, knowing that her sister's journey would become even more difficult very soon.

_Cassandra . . . no matter what lies ahead of you . . . do not give up . . . and please . . . set me free . . ._

* * *

Cassandra slowly opened her eyes as she awoke from her slumber. In front of her was a familiar friendly face. It was Xianghua.

"So did you have some fun with Siegfried last night?"

The Grecian shot up from the bed as she screamed, "Aah? What the-? Xianghua? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, nothing really. I just wanted to make sure that you were awake, sleepyhead. Anyways, back to what I was saying . . . did you have fun with your knight in shining armor last night?"

Cassandra was a little confused. "Fun? What do you mean?"

"Well, I saw Siegfried leaving your bedroom before I got here this morning. So I figured that you two went all out. So did you?"

The Grecian's eyes widened as she realized what the Chinese girl was talking about. "NO! You got it all wrong! We didn't do anything last night!"

Xianghua playfully asked, "Are you sure? You're not lying to me, are you?"

"Xianghua, I'm not lying!"

The brunette then laughed. "Ahahaha! I'm just kidding Cassandra! Sheesh, you really need to relax already. But it looks like you just scored yourself a boyfriend!"

"I . . . I guess so . . ."

Suddenly, the Chinese girl smacked the Grecian really hard on the head, and the latter gave out a yelp of pain. "Oww! What was that for? That really hurt!"

"What do you mean you guess so? You KNOW so silly."

"Okay, fine," Cassandra snorted. She then felt her head, where a bump was beginning to grow. "But you didn't have to hit me on the head so hard!"

Xianghua got up from the chair as she said, "I told you. I was just kidding. Man you really need to calm down. Anyways, let's get you changed into your new outfit."

The Grecian looked at the Chinese girl with a confused look on her face and asked, "New outfit? What's wrong with the one I have?"

"I hate to break this to you, but it got really torn up from the last battle, so Ivy had a new outfit made for you. Her only concern is if it would fit you. So hurry up slowpoke! Everyone's waiting for us!"

"Huh? Why? Where are we going this time?"

"Kilik will explain everything. Now come on, we got no time to lose."

* * *

Siegfried, Kilik, Ivy, Hilde and Rock waited for the two girls outside the mansion at the front, ready for their next destination. Since the knight's armor was destroyed, he was wearing a new attire. His shirt and leggings were now covered with a yellow robe with green sleeves that was decorated with green stitches of a lion on his left chest and an eagle on his right. A brown belt held the robe on his body. Siegfried also had a new scabbard to hold his sword on his back and a dark brown cape on his shoulders. He looked like a holy warrior.

Eventually Xianghua and Cassandra joined them outside, and the others were stunned at what the latter was wearing. She was wearing a blue long sleeved jacket with gold trimmings, a piece of black leather tied all around her chest and a small white neck tie around her neck. Underneath the jacket was a blue skirt and long brown boots. Her hair was now held together by a long pink tie in a small ponytail.

Siegfried walked up to Cassandra to take a closer look. He was completely stunned and told her, "Wow. You look beautiful."

The Grecian giggled a little and replied, "You look pretty darn handsome yourself."

She then turned to everyone and asked, "So where are we going now?"

Kilik then spoke up. "We're going to head for India. Hopefully we can find Maxi and your sister there."

Cassandra looked confused and asked him, "Why is that?"

"Maxi used to have a secret hideout that only his sworn brothers and friends knew about. Xianghua and I ourselves know of this place as well, so we should be able to find it very easily. We think that he brought Sophitia there to give her time to recover without anyone finding her. That is why we must hurry east as soon as we can."

The Grecian nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a plan." She then turned towards Ivy and asked, "What about you? What are you going to do?"

The alchemist replied, "After I fix up my mansion, I will go on my own mission. I must find Cervantes and settle things with him once and for all?"

"You think you'll be able to find and defeat him?"

"I pretty sure that I won't have any trouble finding him. After all, he's most likely going to try and find me again. And I swear by my sword . . . I will send him back to hell."

Cassandra sighed, knowing that there was no way of stopping Ivy. "Well . . . good luck then. But don't try to kill yourself. "

Hilde then mounted her horse and said to everyone, "Then let us be on our way. We have a long journey ahead of us, and it is best if we reach the docks before sunset."

All nodded in agreement, and the group mounted their horses and rode off, leaving Ivy all by herself.

She then looked up to the rising sun in the east, knowing what she needs to do next.

"Just you wait, Cervantes. I will destroy you . . . and at last . . . from this curse that has been upon me for all these years . . . I will be free . . ."

* * *

Well, there you have it. I actually uploaded this more sooner than I expected. But as I said before, I don't know when I'll update next, but I'll try as soon as I can. Have a great summer everyone!


	16. Beware of the Pharaoh

Hey everyone! Sorry that y'all had to wait. I've been kinda of busy lately. Anyways, Ammon from Soulcalibur Legends makes an appearance. I've never played the game, but I've seen playthroughs online. Hope y'all enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 15: Beware of the Pharaoh

Taki overlooked the ancient ruins of Egypt from the top of a very tall obelisk. The whole site below her was all quite marvelous: the pyramids, the temples, the statues and everything else. The fact that all of this was right next to the Nile River and had a gorgeous view of the sunset made it all more beautiful. But the ninja had something more serious thoughts in her mind. For the past several days, she had been tracking down Zasalamel, and for some odd reason, he made his way here. She just couldn't figure out what was he up to.

_I do not sense any presence of Soul Edge here. The Azure Knight was here before, but he didn't leave anything behind that could be useful to that man. What is it that you are looking for here, Zasalamel?_

Suddenly, she felt something. The vibrations she felt had an evil presence behind them, and to her surprise, it was that of Soul Edge. She looked around to find the source of the vibrations, and her eyes were drawn to a temple, the largest in the area.

_What does that temple have that has the aura of Soul Edge? And how did it suddenly appear? Is Zasalamel behind this?_

Taki shook her head. She didn't have time to think. Whatever this was, she had to stop it from emerging. The ninja leapt from the obelisk and made her way to the temple entrance. Without stopping to think, Taki dashed inside.

* * *

Zasalamel stood in front of the tomb entrance of one of the most feared pharaohs of all time: Ammon. When he was alive, he ruled with great tyranny, causing everyone to fear him, even his own enemies. The fearsome pharaoh won every single battle that he took part in and no one could figure out why he was unstoppable on the battle. But the enigma knew the one reason why Ammon was victorious in war: he was one of the many wielders of Soul Edge.

_To think that there can be such fools in this world who believe that the sword can actually bring some sort of "good luck" in battle. But of course, something like that comes with a price. Thanks to the sword, Ammon lost his sanity and died at a very young age._

He then pulled out a fragment of the evil sword from his cloak and held it up in front of his face. This fragment somehow came to him around the time the Alexandra sisters fought each other with the Soul swords. Somehow, this piece of the evil sword chipped off during the battle and fell down the tower. And for some odd reason, he was the one who found it. Zasalamel wondered if this was destiny, or merely good luck?

_Hmph. It matters not how or why I received this fragment. What matters now is what I'm going to do with it. The future that I so long to see . . . The only way that I can stay alive is to ensure the survival of the powers that dwell within the swords. I cannot allow anyone to destroy them. So that is why I'm going to need all the help I can get . . . even from the dead._

Suddenly, the fragment of Soul Edge began to glow and floated out of Zasalamel's hand. He chuckled with no surprise. It seemed that the pharaoh wanted the fragment so badly.

"Well, my dear pharaoh. If you want this fragment of Soul Edge so badly, then go ahead. Take it. I have no use of it . . . for now anyways."

The fragment then shot towards the tomb gate and pierced through the stone doors. After a moment of silence, Zasalamel heard great rumbling sounds from the room.

"So you have awakened, Ammon."

All of a sudden, the enigma turned around and blocked an incoming kunai with his scythe. The ninja wouldn't stop following him.

"You just don't know when to stop meddling in other people's affairs, do you, Taki?"

The ninja then jumped from the shadows and landed in front of him, pulling out her swords from her back and taking her stance.

"For your information, what evil that you are planning now is indeed my business. I simply cannot let you go on manipulating others for your own advantage. Your time is up!"

Suddenly, there was a loud rumble and the ground beneath their feet began to shake. Before Taki knew it, the stone gate of Ammon's tomb crumbled and something emerged from within. It was a humongous sarcophagus. It was floating in mid-air, an eerie crimson aura surrounded its body, and the eyes were glowing an evil red color.

The ninja stood in shock as she struggled to spit out her words from her tongue. "Wh-What is this?"

"Let me introduce you to Ammon," Zasalamel replied. "Back when he was alive, he once wielded Soul Edge to become the most powerful ruler in all the land. The sword granted the pharaoh his wish, but of course it came with the price of his sanity, and eventually his life. I used a shard I found to resurrect him, but just that one piece won't satisfy him. Ammon wants all of the pieces of the sword."

He then pointed to the Mekki-Maru in the ninja's hand. "And it appears that he will first go after the one within your sword. Good luck with trying to keep it away from him. Now, if you excuse me. There are more guardians that I must awaken."

"What! There are more?"

"You of all people shouldn't be acting so surprised. There are many guardians of the evil sword in this world."

The enigma then disappeared into the shadows, leaving only Taki and Ammon. The ninja mumbled a small curse to herself about her situation and flipped back towards the stairs. As she landed, thoughts of a strategy flooded into her mind.

_I've never fought an evil entity like this before, so I don't know what to do now. I guess that my option now is to study its movements and find a weakness._

Ammon then shot out beams of red light from his eyes at Taki, but she quickly rolled away, narrowly dodging the attack. Having enough, she dashed towards the sarcophagus and rapidly slashed with her two kodachi. But Ammon did not show any expressions of pain. The ninja cursed at herself again for her stupidity.

_Darn it! This is a casket I'm fighting! How could I have forgotten that?_

Suddenly, Ammon lifted himself higher in the air and stomped very hard on the ground when he came back down, causing the ninja to stumble. The sarcophagus continued to stomp really hard on the ground, causing cracks to appear on the stone and the pillars around them to break apart and crumble. No matter what she tried, Taki could not get herself to regain her balance. Then before she knew it, Ammon shot out light beams at her again. The ninja managed to roll away, but she was hit at her right shoulder.

As she got up, Taki winced in pain as she touched her wound. Her shoulder pad was destroyed and her skin was badly burned. To make matters worse, she could not move her arm.

_Tch. I guess I can only fight with my left hand. But I can't afford to use Mekki-Maru, or else he might absorb it._

The ninja placed the kodachi back into its sheath and placed Rekki-Maru into her left hand, slowly taking a defensive stance. She then noticed that the ruby in the middle of the sarcophagus was pulsing like a heartbeat. She then got an idea.

_Perhaps that is its core. If I can destroy it, then I should be able to defeat him!_

Ammon shot more lasers from his eyes, Taki quickly ran past them and leapt into the air, piercing the red ruby with her sword. She could hear him screaming in pain as she quickly pulled back. Suddenly, the sarcophagus began to break apart, revealing Ammon's true body. His legs were still inside the sarcophagus, but his mummified chest and everything above were now exposed.

The ninja smirked. _Looks like I found its weakness._

She quickly dashed in again and swung Rekki-Maru at the pharaoh with all of her strength. Once again, Ammon cried out in agony after the attack. Taki then charged back to attack again, but the pharaoh quickly shot a laser at her, sending her flying through the air and hitting the ground with a loud thud. This time, the part of her red ninja suit at her stomach was torn and her body was in even more pain.

`_Impossible! How could he have counterattacked so quickly? Is he playing with me now and trying to confuse me?_

Suddenly, Ammon's body was once again covered by his sarcophagus and flames emanated from his feet. Taki quickly back flipped away, saving herself from getting burned. She knew that she had to get to his weak spot again to defeat him, so she dashed at him again, ready to strike at his ruby. But the pharaoh somehow knew what the ninja was trying to do. As she leapt at him again, the ruby suddenly began to glow with a white color and shot out a powerful beam of light at Taki, causing her to once again land hard on the ground. Her Mekki-Maru also flew from its case and landed near Ammon.

As Taki lay in pain, the sarcophagus floated near the small sword and telekinetically picked it up. All of a sudden, Mekki-Maru entered Ammon's body, and his aura became redder. The ground began to shake again as Taki pushed herself up. The temple was about to collapse at any second.

_Curses! I'll have to worry about Mekki-Maru later! Right now, I need to get out of here!_

Ignoring all of her pain, Taki quickly leapt into the air and ran as fast as she could to the exit. Ammon ignored her and did not chase her, for he still had to find the evil sword. Thanks to the fragment he now has, he can find it easily. He flew to the roof and pierced through, allowing him to leave the crumbling temple.

* * *

**Outside the temple**

Hong Yun-seong took a good look around him and sighed. So far, he had no luck in finding Soul Edge. He had managed to make his way to Ostrheinsburg castle where the Azure Knight was suppose to be, but he found the place to be empty. To make matters worse, Seong Mi-na and Talim were still chasing after him, trying to convince him that the sword was evil.

_What the hell is their problem? It doesn't matter if it's evil to me. I just need it to protect my homeland. Why can't they just understand that?_

Since he could not find any clues, he decided to come back here to the Egyptian ruins that he and Talim visited not too long ago. There had to be more hidden clues somewhere, but no matter where he searched, he could not find anything.

_Damn it. Where am I supposed to be searching?_

Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently, causing the red haired boy to stumble.

"Whoa! What the hell is going on? An earthquake?"

Then all of a sudden, a large object hovered in the sky and flew towards the direction opposite to the setting sun.

"What the-? What was that huge thing? And where is it going?"

Suddenly, he heard something approaching him from behind. He quickly turned around and pulled out his Chinese sword. Much to his surprise, it was a female ninja, but she was wounded badly.

"Whoa! What in the world happened to you?"

"I must . . . follow . . . Ammon . . ."

"Whoa! Hey!"

Suddenly, she fell into Yun-seong's arms, losing her conscious. The boy just stared at her as she began to sleep, tired from her battle.

_Man . . . I don't know what to do now . . . She's clearly from my enemy country. So she might backstab me if I help her. It's probably best if I should just . . ._

Yun-seong violently shook his head. He just couldn't leave her out here to die, even if she is his enemy. With a heavy sigh, he carefully placed her behind him and lifted her legs. He then walked back to his camp, which was fortunately not that far from where they were.

"Man . . . How did something like this happen to me?"


	17. A Deadly Alliance

Hey everyone! Sorry that it took me a while, but I managed to find time to make this new chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 16: A Deadly Alliance

Maxi carried his master in his arms as he walked through the hidden city backstreets. They were in the Indian city where he had met his old friend Kilik . . . and where he had lost everything. His entire crew, Kyam, his own ship . . . They all have been lying at the harbor at the port for the past four years. It was at that port where Maxi had vowed to avenge them by killing the one responsible: Astaroth.

But he was over vengeance, because he had to get Sophitia to his secret hiding place. Ever since they had escaped from England, she had not woken up. She had been unconscious for the past few days and had not shown any sign of recovery. Maxi was worried. He wondered if her fight with her younger sister had left her unable to wake up. He only hoped that she would awaken soon. The only thing that he could do now was to get her to a safe and secluded area where she would recover quickly. But he knew that time was running out.

_Kilik knows where my secret hideout is_, he thought to himself. _He and his friends will catch up soon enough and hell will break loose. Damn, if only master will just wake up._

It didn't take him too long for him to reach the end of the alley, and he was greeted with the presence of a hidden door that he himself cleverly concealed. After carefully laying Sophitia nearby on the ground, Maxi grabbed the knob of the door and pushed it opened. He picked up his master and closed the door behind him. He hurried through the tunnels until he found it: his secret hiding place. The room was his treasure room which he and his crew built together to hide their secret stash of loot that they stole. Gold that shined brightly in the sun, jewels of all kinds and colors, and so much more valuables were kept here. No resident of the city had found this place, so it was a perfect hiding spot.

Maxi carefully laid Sophitia on a pile of gold and sighed. "Man, her younger sister and her friends are causing us so much trouble. She needs to do something or else Soul Edge will be destroyed."

Suddenly, a voice called out, "Perhaps your master needs a helping hand, hmm?"

The pirate quickly pulled out his nunchaku and yelled, "Who's there?"

Then from the shadows, a dark figure came out and bowed. "My dearest apologies. I should have knocked first. I am Raphael Sorel, and I am here to make an offer to your master."

"I highly doubt that she'll accept your offer," Maxi coldly replied. "And how the hell did you find out about this place? No ordinary person should find it."

"How rude!" exclaimed Raphael. "Pirates can have such nasty behaviors. Well, just to let you know, I'm no ordinary person. I'm not even human at all."

Suddenly, a black bat flew from the darkness and landed on the vampire's right shoulder as he continued, "My little servant here has been scouting for me and has told me everything, including the whereabouts of this place."

"Well what do you want? If you don't have any real business, then get out of here."

"You're quite impatient I see. Well anyways, it's about that meddlesome girl, Cassandra. You see, she has also caused me so much trouble, and I want nothing more than to take Soul Calibur from her and kill her and her meddlesome friends. From what I can understand, your master wants to get rid of her as well. I'm aware that she wishes to destroy Soul Calibur, but we do have the same desire to kill Cassandra. So what I'm proposing is that we put our differences aside and take that foolish girl out."

There was silence before Maxi replied, "That sounds like a decent offer, but I don't think my master will take your offer. She already has enough trouble to deal with, and she doesn't need mo-"

Suddenly, they heard Sophitia say, "No. I will accept your offer, Lord Sorel."

The two men turn and saw the Red Goddess of Death rise from where she slept. She walked up to Raphael and continued, "I will call a truce with you, for now. But once Cassandra is dead, we will be allies no more. Do you agree?"

The vampire knelt on one knee before her, took her right hand and kissed it lightly. He then looked up to her with his amber red eyes and answered, "Of course, my lady. I agree."

"Now then," said Sophitia. "Cassandra appears to be strong with her allies by her side. Can I entrust you with the task of breaking up her group?"

Raphael replied, "It will be no trouble at all, my lady. I already know what I must do, and my daughter and servants are already preparing for it."

* * *

**Meanwhile, somewhere in the New World**

A young man was walking deep in the vast valley. The sun was shining on his fair tanned body and the gentle breeze was blowing through his shoulder length brown hair. His dark chocolate eyes were always scanning, watching for any enemy to come out. His ax in his right hand was ready to strike at any moment. He was truly a young warrior, raised and trained by his foster father.

_I owe so much to my father, the White Giant_, he thought to himself. _He has saved my before, and once I'm done with this personal journey of mine, I will repay him. I swear it. If I can't, then there is no way I can call myself Bangoo, the son of the White Giant._

Eventually, he reached a small river and decided to stop walking to take a break. He laid his ax on the ground and took a handful of water, sipping it slowly, savoring its sweet taste.

Suddenly, there was a brush from the nearby trees and Bangoo stopped drinking. He knew that something was near. As he slowly grabbed for his ax, a creature emerged from the trees and charged for him. The boy quickly picked up his ax and sliced the monster in two. As Bangoo looked at the dead body, he was puzzled.

"What . . . is this creature?" he asked himself.

Suddenly, more creatures surrounded him and charged towards him. Bangoo quickly swung his ax, tearing many monsters apart, and many fell dead at his feet. But more monsters appeared in their place, causing more trouble for the young boy. With one swing he cleared a way for himself and began to run, knowing he was no match for them. But to his dismay, more monsters flew him and attacked him. Unfortunately, they overpowered him and began biting at his flesh. He cried out in pain as their teeth penetrated his skin and caused blood to gush out of his wounds.

All of a sudden, a young girl's voice cried out, "Enough!"

The monsters stopped biting the boy as a maroon haired girl walked up to them.

"Father told us to capture the son of the White Giant and bring him alive. We cannot disobey him. Now then, let us hurry back. You all know how impatient my father can be."

* * *

**One day later, at the Indian Port**

"Kilik!" Xianghua shouted. "Are we almost there?"

The monk turned back to his friends, who were following close behind him in the backstreets.

"We're almost there, Xianghua. It's just up ahead."

Hilde then asked, "How did Maxi find a secret area in a place like this?"

"Pirates have a keen eye for things like this," Kilik answered. "Here it is."

After removing the debris from the wall, the monk grabbed the knob and pushed the hidden door opened. As he walked in, the others followed closely behind him as they made their way through the long tunnels and found the secret hideout.

As they looked around, they were all amazed at Maxi's huge collection of treasure. But then suddenly, they someone across the room, standing still and staring right at them: Sophitia.

Cassandra's eyes widened with anger and she shouted, "You! I got you now Sophitia!"

Before anyone could stop her, she pulled out her sword and sprinted towards Sophitia. As she got close, she leapt into the air, brought her sword over her head and slashed it at her sister. But suddenly, Sophitia became nothing but a horde of bats and they flew away.

The Grecian was confused. "What's this? What's going on?"

Kilik shook her head. "I don't understand either. I felt the presence of both Soul Edge and Sophitia, so they should both be here. Was this all an illusion?"

Suddenly, they heard a loud laugh. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! You are all nothing but helpless fools! The Red Goddess of Death is not here! Nor is Soul Edge! You have all fallen for my trap!"

Cassandra then heard something behind her, coming at her at high speed. She quickly back flipped away, dodging an attack. As she landed near her companions, her eyes widened as she looked at her attacker.

"Raphael Sorel? What are you doing here?"

"You stupid girl! You should know why I'm here. I'm here for the spirit sword."

"Like hell! I'll never give it to you!"

"Oh but you should consider, because if you don't, then the son of the White Giant shall be my daughter's pet!"

Rock was shocked by those words and shouted, "My son, Bangoo? But that's impossible!"

"Oh no my dear giant friend! It IS possible! Amy, bring here your soon-to-be pet!"

Suddenly, a young red haired girl came out of the darkness with someone that had a leash wrapped around his neck. It was none other than Rock's son.

The White Giant could not believe it. "No! BANGOO!"

* * *

**Meanwhile, in front of the Shrine of Confined Demons**

Sophitia and Maxi stood in front of a shrine, where it was said that demons were sealed. They pushed the doors opened and entered. The Red Goddess then chipped off two shards from Soul Edge, held them up and said,

"Guardians of the Evil Sword! I command you two to awaken and come forth!"

Suddenly, the two shards flew from her hand to two coffins with demon seals on them. The shards broke the seal and telemetrically entered the coffins. Then all of a sudden, the coffins were broken from the inside and two figures emerged. One was a big man and the other was a small girl. Both were clearly demons.

Sophitia then asked them, "What are your names?"

The young girl answered, "I'm Maki, and he's Geki."

The Red Goddess then smirked as she said, "You two will make excellent servants for me."


	18. Despair

Hey everyone! Ohh man! I'm so sorry for making everyone wait! It's not that I didn't have any free time. It's just that I'm just so anxious if Cassandra is gonna be in SCV. I mean, there have been rumors that she won't because Patroklos and Pyrrha will be taking her and Sophitia's place. Oh I hope that doesn't happen!

Anyways. here's my new chapter, but I'm gonna have to warn y'all. Something bad is going to happen. Beware . . .

* * *

Chapter 17: Despair

Rock was stunned. Standing before him was his own son, Bangoo. But now he was with Raphael and Amy, and he could not understand why.

Desperate for an answer, he cried, "Bangoo? What are you doing with that monster? "

"Excuse me!" Raphael exclaimed. "How dare you call me that? You have quite the nerve. Bangoo, punish that man!"

In an instant, Amy let go of Bangoo's leash, and the boy charged at the group. As he leaped into the air, he brought his two hand axes over his head and brought them down as he started his attack. The six warriors managed to quickly move away in separate directions. After recovering, Bangoo charged at his father and swung his axes. Rock stopped the attack with his mace and looked straight into his son's eyes.

"Bangoo! What are you doing? Don't you recognize me? It's me, your father! Please, Bangoo! Stop this! I don't want to hurt you!"

But the boy quickly pulled back and repeatedly attacked his father again. Raphael then said, "Try whatever you can, fool. But it won't work at all. Since he has become my daughter's beloved pet, he responds to no one but Amy and me. So not even you can tell him what to do."

Hilde pointed her sword at the vampire and shouted, "Coward! You won't get away with your dirty tricks!"

"Oh, but I will. Oh, yes. I almost forgot. My vampires have not had their fill of blood today, and are in need of some that are quite fresh. So if you all don't mind, I'll let them drink your blood."

Before any of them knew it, dozens of vampires leaped from the shadows and surrounded the warriors. Each vampire had a pale purple body with bat-like wings on its arms, a bald head, and gruesome red eyes that looked like they were going to pop out. In an instant, the six heroes were battling for their lives against the creatures of the dark.

Bangoo kept on attacking Rock with his two axes with no sign of weariness. The father did his best to defend himself against his son, but with no chance for a counterattack. As he is pushed back far away, the mind of the White Giant was filled with questions on how to get to his son back to his senses. With the way the situation was, freeing Bangoo from Raphael's control seemed impossible. But he couldn't give up.

"_Bangoo . . . no matter what, I will save you!"_

Readying his giant mace, Rock swung it against Bangoo and flung him back.

* * *

Meanwhile, everybody else was fighting against the flock of bloodthirsty vampires. Cassandra stabbed the creatures with her sword and pounded them with her shield. Siegfried swung his giant zweihänder and sliced some of the monsters in half and beheaded others. Hilde stabbed a vampire with her spear and swung it around, knocking other vampires away. Kilik twirled his rod and kicked at the creatures, sending a large number of them flying. And Xianghua danced her way through the monsters and gracefully sliced them with her sword.

Disgusted that his minions are not making any process, Raphael shouted, "What are you all doing? We are not getting anywhere with this meddling! Stop playing around and kill them!"

Cassandra heard his words clear and had enough. She then turned to Siegfried and asked, "Care to give me a boost and help me teach that vampire a lesson?"

The knight quickly nodded and allowed the Grecian to jump on his sword. With all of his strength, he swung Requiem over his head and sent the girl flying in the air.

Raphael gazed with amusement as Cassandra glided over all of the vampires in the air and landed where he and Amy were. The Grecian got back up to her feet and pointed her sword at the two vampires.

"Listen here pal. I'm really getting tired of dealing with you. Your intrusions have really pissed me off. So why don't we settle this and end it here right now?"

The nobleman merely chuckled and asked, "I would love to do that, but I have some matters to take care of right now. I made a deal with the Red Goddess of Death, and I intend to keep up my end perfectly with no flaws. Besides, my beloved Amy wants to play with you. Please do your best to entertain her."

In an instant, Raphael teleported behind Cassandra and joined the battle behind them. The Grecian looked back in shock and started to follow him, but she quickly heard the slashes of a thin sword and quickly turned back to block an attack from Amy.

The marooned haired girl looked with her blood ruby eyes at the Grecian and spoke with a cold voice, "No toy of mine ever gets away from me, and you're no exception. So play with me."

Amy then pushed back Cassandra, who stumbled a few feet back. The Grecian sighed and readied herself for an unplanned fight.

"I was going for your pathetic old man and beat him up, but fine. I suppose there's some fun in kickin' a little vampire's butt. Come on and let's go!"

* * *

Kilik and Xianghua and their backs to each other as the vampires surrounded them. It appeared as though there was no way out for them, and the two of them tried to think of some way to fight back. Suddenly, the vampires backed away as Raphael approached the duo.

"Hehehehe. You two make quite a lovely pair. It would be such a shame if you two somehow got separated. You, lovely lady. Chai Xianghua, was it? I must say, you have such an interesting fighting style. It's as if you're dancing on water, and I'm very impressed. May I have a dance with you?"

Kilik narrowed his eyes and asked, "What do you want with Xianghua?"

"Didn't you hear me, foolish boy? I said I want to dance with her. So, Xianghua, shall we dance?"

The dancer walked up to the nobleman with her Chinese sword tightly gripped in her hand and replied, "You want to dance, huh? Okay then. I'll give you a dance that you'll never forget. So come on! Let's dance!"

The monk gasped and yelled, "Xianghua! Wait a second!"

But before he could get to his friend, vampires instantly surrounded him and pushed him back. The monk pushed them back by twirling his rod around, but more vampires came rushing in and he could not reach Xianghua.

Meanwhile, the dancer and the vampire began their battle. They exchanged blows with each other, but they sidestepped to dodge the attacks. Their swords were dancing in the air as they were spun and thrust. Both sword wielders danced around each other as they attempted to launch a successful attack.

As Raphael pointed his Flambert at Xianghua and said, "It appears that we're getting nowhere if we keep on going like this. Looks like we need to change things around a little bit."

Suddenly, his eyes glowed with an eerie crimson light and his body emanated a black flame like aura. He then began to launch a series of attacks on the dancer with slashes and stabs. Xianghua moved as fast as she could to evade his attacks and blocked his stabs and thrusts with her sword. But Raphael kept on gaining on her and forcing her back. All of a sudden, she stumbled and fell to the floor. The vampire took the opportunity and thrust his rapier at her heart. But Xianghua quickly rolled to her right, and only part of her jacket and top were torn. Quickly standing back up, she blocked more of his attacks.

"_This isn't looking good at all!" _she thought. _"I gotta fight back! But how can I when I'm being pushed to my limits? My skills are useless! I can't do anything right now!"_

But suddenly, she remembered what the old general told her.

_"Sometimes, the path of the warrior requires letting in dark feelings, weighing them, then letting them go."_

"_Of course!" _she thought. _"I have trained hard so that my heart will be like water, letting everything flow, the good and the bad. I have to do the same with my body as well! I can do this! I will be like water! I won't give up!"_

As Raphael swung his rapier at her again, Xianghua used a whole lot of strength and deflected the attack. The vampire was immediately shocked at what just happened and had a hard time rebalancing himself. The girl now had her chance.

"You're open!" she yelled.

Then the dancer began to gracefully spin around as she slashed the vampire with her sword and kicked him with her feet. She did not stop and allowed Raphael to fight back. She couldn't afford it. She would not allow him to fight back. After a series of slashes and kicks, Raphael stumbled back, unable to retake his ground in time. Xianghua then concentrated and gathered all of her energy. She poured it into her sword, causing it to give a bright blue glow.

"This is it, vampire!" she shouted. "You're done for!"

Bringing her charged sword over her head, she quickly flung it down near her chest and a big huge aqua sphere appeared in between the two fighters. It emanated huge waves of energy that sent Raphael flying.

All at once, everyone stopped fighting, having dispatched all of the vampires except for Amy and Bangoo, to see what just happened. Kilik swung his rod and sent all of the nearby vampires flying. He then saw Xianghua finishing her devastating attack and ran to her and asked, "Xianghua, are you alright?"

She turned to companion with a big smile on her face and exclaimed, "I'm more than just okay! I'm all pumped up! I just kicked one big vampire's butt! This is awesome!"

Suddenly, they heard a very low growl from Raphael. "You really thought you beat me? You could not have been so wrong. Do not delude yourself you wretched fool!"

Before anyone knew it, Raphael lunged himself forward at lightning speed towards Xianghua and Kilik. He grabbed the girl while knocking her friend away and flew up high in the air with his captive in his right hand, choking her at the neck. Xianghua tried to loosen his grip, but it was no use. His fingers were wrapped so tightly around her neck that his nails were leaving red marks on her neck.

Cassandra and Rock tried to run to Kilik and help him, but Amy and Bangoo were still blocking their paths and were continuing the fights. Siegfried and Hilde quickly ran to the monk and helped him back up, but he pushed them back and ran to where Raphael was floating in the air.

At the top of his voice, Kilik yelled, "Don't you dare hurt Xianghua! Give her back now!"

The vampire gave out a maniacal laugh that echoed throughout the entire treasure room. "I can't give her back! This foolish girl thinks that she can make a fool out of me! I really need to teach her a lesson! She has to pay dearly for her ignorance!"

He then pulled Xianghua closer, their foreheads almost touching each other. Her eyes were squinting in pain with tear drops beginning to form on the sides. Her whole face was starting to turn blue, as she could not breathe and her air supply was getting cut off. His eyes were giving off and evil look and a menacing grin was beginning to form on his face. A brilliant and horrible idea of what to do with her just came to him, and he couldn't wait to carry it out.

"It's my turn now. You're about to learn what happens to those who dare to go too far to not only get in my way, but also try to defeat me. Prepare yourself! I shall make you one of my minions!"

Suddenly, he opened his mouth, and his fangs began to form. Xianghua's brunette eyes widened and she tried even harder to break his grip but it was no use.

With her weak voice, she mumbled, "N-No . . . please . . . I'm begging you . . ."

But Raphael did not listen, and he plunged his fangs into her neck. Xianghua began to cry out in agony as his fangs sank deeper into her neck and blood began to gush and poor out her wound.

Kilik's eyes widened in shock. He could not believe what was happening and shouted with all of his breath.

"NOOOO! XIANGHUAAAAAA!"

Siegfried and Hilde could not believe it either and watched in horror as Raphael continued to drain Xianghua of her blood.

As soon as Amy heard Xianghua's cry, she jumped back far away from Cassandra and said, "My father has accomplished what he needed to do. Thanks for playing with me, Cassandra. Let's do this again sometime, only it'll be your last time to play with me."

She then turned to Bangoo and shouted, "That's enough, pet! Let's go!"

The boy instantly obeyed and withdrew from his father. He ran and picked up the maroon haired girl, then sprinted out of the treasure room.

Realizing they could not catch them, Cassandra and Rock turned their attention to Raphael, and they gasped in shock as they saw what was happening to their friend.

Having his fill, the vampire pulled out his fangs from the girl's neck and turned to everyone below him. "This girl has such sweet nectar, and now I have an excellent vampire as one of my minions. You'll be seeing her again soon, but until then, I bid you farewell. Au revoir!"

Suddenly, a flock of bats completely surrounded Raphael and an unconscious Xianghua, and they disappeared.

Cassandra and Rock ran up to their companions, who were still in shock about what happened to Xianghua. Kilik fell to his knees in despair. He then banged his fists into the floor, and tears began flood from his eyes. He could not believe it. He just lost the most important person in his life. She would now become a monster of the dark.

"How could I have let this happen? I was supposed to protect her! I failed miserably!"

He lifted his head to the sky and gave out an anguishing cry.

"Xianghua! Xianghuaaa! XIIIIIAAAAAANGHUUUAAAAAAA!"

* * *

Yeah, Xianghua becomes a vampire serving Raphael. Don't worry she won't be like this permanently, so there's light for her at the end of the tunnel . . . or, uh, something like that. Anyways, since I'm now on break, I promise that I will update this story ASAP and maybe throw in another Sieg-x-Cass fanfic. Happy Holidays everyone!


	19. Separation

Hey everyone! Hope everyone's having a good start to the New Year! Here's Ch. 18! Sorry if it you find it too short.

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Chapter 18: Separation

She's gone. Xianghua was truly gone. Kilik just couldn't believe that he had allowed this to happen to her. She has become a slave to Raphael, and someday, he will most likely have to fight her . . . as his enemy.

His companions managed to carry him away from the room that was filled with the dead bodies of the vampires that have tried to kill them earlier. Before they left, Cassandra and Siegfried set the entire chamber on fire, wanting to confirm that those hideous monsters would not rise again and that no one ever discovers the place.

The five of them managed to find an inn near the docks and checked in for the night. As soon as the monk was shown his room, he immediately locked the door tight, wanting to be alone. He lay on the bed and closed his eyes, but he could not sleep. His heart was filled with guilt and devastation, and he just couldn't bear it. This was all too much for him.

_I shouldn't have allowed her to join me, _he thought. _It would have been better if I just had her go home where she would be safe. And now . . . I must take her life . . . She has been infected with evil . . . a slave to a vampire . . . and I must . . . kill her . . . just like the time with . . . Xianglian . . ._

Kilik turned to the window and looked at the full moon. Tears began to form in his eyes as the painful memories of his dark past began to haunt him again, just like they did before. Within his mind, there was an extremely gruesome scene of mass murder. The night when the Evil Seed rained down on the Temple; the monks, Kilik himself included, becoming infected with the madness and began killing each other; and then that moment . . . when Xianglian sacrificed her sanity to save his by giving him the Dvapara-Yuga . . . and he was forced to kill her . . .

The painful look in her eyes when he stabbed her with the Kali-Yuga had flashed through his mind so many times in the past. But this time, it was different. As soon as Xianglian's face flashed in his mind, she began to change . . . until she finally looked like . . . Xianghua!

In an instant, Kilik quickly rose up and began to pant loudly, shaken by the very thought of being forced to kill the person he had held the dearest to his heart. If he cannot find a way to save her, he will have to kill her.

_Xianghua . . . Will I . . . have to truly kill her?_

Suddenly, there was a small knock on the door. As soon as he heard it, Kilik recollected himself, got up and walked to the door. After her opened it, he saw Rock, without his rhino helmet.

"Kilik, are you alright?"

The monk stumbled a little bit with his words before he replied, "Y-yes, I'm fine. I just . . . needed some time alone. Is there something wrong?"

The White Giant quickly walked in and closed the door behind him. He then looked into the young man's dark brown and said,

"There's something that I need to talk to you about."

* * *

**Meanwhile, in Siegfried and Rock's room**

Siegfried lied on his bed, but he could not close his eyes and sleep. His mind was filled with questions on what he and his allies should do next. With Xianghua now on Raphael's control, trying to find and stop Sophitia will now be even harder than before.

_Darn it,_ the knight thought. _With Xianghua as one of Raphael's vampires now and Bangoo as Amy's "pet", we now have two objections to complete, and we may have to spli-_

Suddenly, the knight quickly sat up, shocked from his last thought: the idea of the group splitting up.

_ While one group tries to find Sophitia and Soul Edge, the other must find and save Xianghua and Bangoo. And that makes us divided, separated far from each other . . . Was that Raphael's plan all along?_

All of a sudden, he heard a few gentle knocks on the door. He turned his attention and wondered, _Is that Rock? I guess he must be done talking to Kilik. I wonder what he wanted to talk about?_

He got up and opened, but was shocked when he saw that it was not the White Giant who was standing outside of his room. It was Cassandra, and she looked like she really needed to talk to him.

After a few seconds of staring into each other's eyes, she asked, "Siegfried . . . can I . . . talk with you . . . for a little while?"

"Yeah," he replied, as he backed away and opened the door wider. The girl quickly walked in and sat on the bed while the man closed the door.

He then turned towards her and asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Hilde's soundly asleep and Rock's still in Kilik's room. I guess those two are still talking." There was another moment of silence before she asked, "Siegfried . . . with the way things are . . . is our group going to break apart?"

The man silently nodded and answered, "I'm afraid so. We still need to find and stop your sister from increasing Soul Edge's power. However, at the same time, we need to save Xianghua and Bangoo for sure. We can't just abandon them and leave them in Raphael's hands."

Suddenly, Cassandra's hands gripped the bed sheets tightly and her breathing became deeper as she said, "I cannot allow more people to get hurt, or even worse killed. I won't allow that to happen. I've already lost my friends and family in Athens, and now I've lost Xianghua, who has become a very dear friend. I'm sick and tired of watching people suffer in front of my own eyes. I can't allow myself to just watch them suffer anymore . . . I will destroy Soul Edge and protect the ones that I love and cherish, even if it costs me my life."

Siegfried reached out and grabbed hold of her hand. Immediately, the girl looked up and stared into his handsome emerald eyes as he spoke,

"You won't do it alone. I'll help you . . . and I won't let you die . . . I swear it."

He then drew her into a warm embrace, wrapping his arms tightly around her body and holding her close against his. Although a bit shocked at first, Cassandra rested her head upon his shoulder and slowly brought her arms around his body.

She then whispered into his ear, "Thank you, Siegfried."

After Rock was finished with his conversation with Kilik, he returned to his room and found Siegfried and Cassandra still in their embrace. Seeing the big man at the door, the two quickly pulled away and the girl said good night to the two men before she hurried back to her room and went to sleep.

* * *

**The next morning, outside the inn**

When everyone was ready to leave, Rock called for everyone's attention.

"Cassandra, Siegfried, Princess Hilde . . . I regret saying this . . . but I'm afraid that Kilik and I have to leave all of you and journey on our own . . ."

The Grecian, the knight and the princess sighed heavily and looked down with sad faces. They had a feeling that this might happen.

The White Giant continued, "Kilik and I have talked last night and came to an agreement. I must save my son and Kilik must save Xianghua as soon as we possibly can. We cannot allow Raphael to control them anymore. We must find them, but we don't know where they went. So we have to search for clues to find them. Kilik is thinking of paying his master a visit in the Himalayan Mountains for help, so we'll stop there first . . . I hate to say this, but . . . Kilik and I must say goodbye . . ."

Cassandra ran up to Rock and hugged him tightly as she said, "No Rock. This isn't goodbye. We will see each other again soon with everyone. I promise."

As she pulled away from the big man, Kilik walked up to her and placed the fragment of the Dvapara-Yuga in the palm of her hand.

He then said, "Take this fragment with you. Right now, you need it more than I do. And you should be able to sense where Sophitia is and have no problem in finding her . . . I wish you the best of luck, Cassandra, and may we see each other again."

The two of them gave each other a quick hug and everyone said and gave their farewells. Kilik and Rock began their journey north towards the Himalayas while Cassandra, Siegfried and Hilde continued east, sensing Sophitia and Soul Edge's presence across the sea.


	20. Rampage of Lizards

Hey everyone! I managed to find time to upload. This one took really long to write, so I hope you all enjoy it. As always, please read and review!

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Chapter 19: Rampage of Lizards

**Somewhere in the desert of the Middle East**

Yun-seong quietly walked behind Taki as he followed her as they crossed the sandy desert of Persia. He dared not to make her mad again, not after what he had been through with her on the night they met.

* * *

_**Flashback, A few days ago in Egypt**_

_ After he brought the unconscious ninja back to his camp, Yun-seong took out some clean white cloths and carefully treated her wounds. As he cleaned the blood of her right arm and carefully wrapped the white cloth around her wound, he shook his head, not believing that he's actually helping an enemy to his country to recover. If anyone from home found out about this, he would become a disgrace for all of them. After treating her right arm, Yun-seong grabbed more white cloths and treated the wound on her stomach. He wrapped the cloths tightly around her stomach, but not so tight that she would be choking to death. After making sure that all of the ninja's wounds were treated, Yun-seong quickly grabbed some wood and quickly began a fire. Then he grabbed a pot and some food from his sack._

_ A few hours later, the ninja opened her eyes and slowly pushed herself up. Her right arm and stomach were throbbing with pain and she could barely move. As she looked around, she noticed a young man with red hair wearing a green bandana, red pants, and no shirt, sitting next to a fire cooking some food._

_ As if he heard her get up, he turned his head towards her and said, "Hey, I don't think you should move right now. Your wounds looked really bad and I don't want to waste more of my bandages, especially on an enemy of my country like you."_

_ "So you're from Korea, huh?" she asked. "So why would you help me recover, then? Our two countries are like sworn enemies to each other. So to help the enemy is a disgrace for your country. So I ask again, why help me?"_

_ "Just shut up already!" Yun-seong yelled, turning his head back to fire. "I know that, ninja! I know that helping someone from Japan only brings disgrace to my country! It's just that I . . . I just felt guilty when . . . I saw you . . . crawling out of the temple like . . . like a dog . . . all beat up and bruised . . ."_

_ "So in other words, your heart softened for someone like me."_

_ Yun-seong roughly put down the pot, jolted up from where he sat, turned around and yelled, "I told you to shut up! Ya' know what? Forget soft heart! I'm just gonna kill you now!"_

_ Quickly grabbing his White Storm, Yun-seong darted towards the ninja and slashed at her. But to his surprise, she quickly rolled away, dodged the attack and kicked him in the stomach. The boy fell on the ground and dropped his sword, and the ninja knelt over him, putting the blade of her Rekki-Maru at his neck, ready to slit his throat whenever she wanted to._

_ "B-But how?" Yun-seong asked, shocked as to how she could move. "You're all beaten up and should not be moving now!"_

_ The ninja answered, "I may not have rested long enough to fully recover, but I did gain enough energy from my rest to fight for a while. Plus, you treated my wounds and stopped them from bleeding. They haven't fully healed, but I'm not losing blood anymore. And as for the feud that is going on between our two countries, I don't care about it at all. To be honest, it's both pointless and useless. But no leader listens to reason, does not let go of pride, and fights to the death. So there's no way for me to stop them and make them see that what they are doing is wrong, and that they are only bringing harm to themselves and to their country. Now tell me your name."_

_ The boy hesitated for a moment, unsure at what to do. But as soon as he felt her blade push harder on his neck, he quickly answered, "Yu-Yun-seong. Hong Yun-seong. Um, could y-, could ya g-get off of me, and uh-h, put t-that sword away, p-pl-please?"_

_ Slowly, the ninja pulled away, put her sword back into its sheath, and pushed herself up, not wanting to reopen her wounds. As the boy sat up and quickly checked his neck for any cut, she sat down near the fire, picked up the pot and examined what was inside._

_ "This soup here . . . Is it for me?" she asked._

_ Yun-seong awkwardly replied, "Uhh, y-yeah. I already ate my own dinner, so that's all yours."_

_ Picking up a clean spoon from the nearby sack, the woman scooped up some soup, blew on it, and slowly ate it. After she gulped it down, she said,_

_ "This is good. Thank you. And I also give you thanks for treating me and apologize if I have frightened you earlier."_

_ "Umm, that's alright," the boy replied. He got up, went over to his sack, and pulled out an extra blanket as he said, "Hey, I'm gonna hit the sack now, so you're welcome to use that blanket over there for the night Miss . . . uh . . . umm . . ."_

_ "Taki," the ninja replied._

_ "Taki . . . Well, night Miss Taki . . ."_

_ He then lied down on the ground, pulled the blanket over him, and slowly drifted off to sleep. Taki turned back towards the fire and continued to eat her dinner in silence. She smirked to himself, as she could see that Yun-seong was one interesting boy._

_**End of flashback**_

* * *

**Back to the present**

After that night, Yun-seong dared not to arouse Taki's anger ever again. She could be so dangerous with him if she had the last straw with him. In the following days, they mostly did not talk to each other and the boy followed the ninja as she headed west to find the guardian Ammon. She would have easily found him in no time, but with her wounds, she had to move her body carefully, or the wounds might open again. As for Yun-seong, he just tagged along with Taki. He figured that if he followed her, he could find some clues to finding Soul Edge, as she appears to be looking for it as well. He just needed to grab it first before she did.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Taki said, "I know that you're trying to find Soul Edge and use it for your own intentions: to protect Korea and defeat Japan. If that's what you want, then you'll have to find it first on your own, for I intend to destroy that sword once I find it."

"Wait! How did you-"

"I could tell by the look of conviction on your face and the fact that you are following me, an enemy of your country, which shows that you are so desperate to get your hands on Soul Edge that you would do something that is so dishonorable to your homeland in order to achieve your goal. Listen well, boy. That sword is nothing but trouble. It only brings chaos into the world and wrecks havoc among countries and their people. If you truly want to protect your homeland, then I suggest you go home now and protect it and your friends and family with your own strength. Do not rely on something evil like Soul Edge, for it will only destroy."

"How could you say such a thing! My country is on the verge of defeat, and my strength alone is not enough to protect it! The only hope I have of protecting my homeland is to obtain absolute power! For ideals are meaningless without power! Soul Edge has absolute power! I don't give a damn if it's evil! I just need it to protect my home and my loved ones! A Japanese ninja like you could never understand a guy like me!"

The ninja turned around, pulled out her kodachi, and took her stance, saying, "You're right. I could never understand a foolish boy like you. It seems that the warning that I gave you on the night we first met has fallen on deaf ears. You are not listening to reason, and you refuse to let go of your pride. Since you plan on relying on the evil sword, I'm afraid I must stop you here, for you would only bring rise to new evil. I'm sorry Yun-seong, but this is as far as you go."

As the red-headed boy took out his Chinese sword and readied for battle, he yelled, "Like hell! You're the one that's gonna be stopped here!"

He then ran to her at lightning speed and horizontally swung his sword. However, Taki jumped over him, dodging the attack. Yun-seong quickly turned around to attack again, but to his surprise, his enemy had struck down a lizard-like monster, stabbing her kodachi into its head.

As she pulled out her weapon from the lizard's skull, she heard the boy cry out, "What the hell is that thing?"

"A monster that was once a human, but has been turned into a monster. And this isn't the only one. There are more coming."

"What?"

"Yun-seong, listen to me. If you want to live, then you cannot waste any more time whining and get ready to fight. I don't know how many are coming, but you must be prepared for anything. Do you understand me?"

The boy quickly nodded and yelled, "Yes Miss Taki!" He did not want to make the ninja mad at him again.

Suddenly, more lizard monsters appeared and completely surrounded Taki and Yun-seong. Each lizardman was a different color, had very little armor on, and wielded a small ax and shield in their front claws. Their massive tails were swinging back and forth, and their blood red eyes were on the two humans, as if they wanted to eat them.

Then one lizard cried out and they all charged at Taki and Yun-seong. The ninja quickly jumped into the air and threw a couple of kunai knives. They pierced the necks of several lizards, and they slowly fell to the ground dead. The boy swung his sword around his body and cut through the stomach of several lizards, making them groan out in pain and unable to defend themselves as he quickly decapitated them in a second. He then quickly ran to one lizard, kicked it in the face, and jumped on it as it fell to the ground, using the monster as a board. As he slid, Yun-seong swung his sword again and knocked several lizards away.

Taki kicked several lizards in the face and knocked them away. She then kicked one lizard in the stomach and jumped onto its back. The ninja leapt high into the air, chanted a few words of a spell, and threw huge blue balls of energy at the lizards, knocking far away monsters back and burning up the ones that were directly hit. As she landed on the ground, she quickly noticed that more lizards were coming, and they were coming in uncountable numbers. Realizing that the situation was becoming dire, Taki quickly stabbed a lizard from behind in the stomach, jumped on it, and then jumped high into the air, landing near Yun-seong.

The two warriors backed up to each other until they were literally back to back. No matter how many lizards they kill, more would come and replenish their numbers. There was just no end to them.

Yun-seong yelled, "Oh man! I did NOT travel all the way from home just to be lizard food!"

"Calm down," Taki calmly said. "You must not show fear to your enemy. It only shows your weakness and the fact that you are ready to die."

"Easier said than done! How can I calm down in a situation like this?" the boy loudly replied.

Suddenly, from a far distance, a voice cried out, "AAAAHHHH! Somebody help me! HEEEEELLLLLLPPP!"

The boy quickly gasped. "Hey! I know that voice! It sounded like-!"

The voice was heard again, giving out a loud cry.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Yun-seong then yelled, "Mi-na!"

Running towards the direction of the voice, he swiftly slashed at the lizards blocking his path. The ninja quickly followed, yelling at him to wait. But he did not listen, and kept on running past the lizards. Desperately, she took out a smoke bomb and threw it at Yun-seong. When it exploded, the boy stopped, trying to clear the smoke from his face. Taki quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him deeper into the smoky mist. Meanwhile, the lizards were coughing away and swinging their axes clumsily into the air, trying to hit their targets. As the smoke cleared from their view, the monsters tried to find the humans, but they were nowhere to be seen.

At a good far off distance, Taki and Yun-seong stopped running and fell to the sandy ground, catching their breaths. The ninja did not want to deal with those monsters again, especially with her wounds not fully healed yet. She knew they had to keep moving, for the lizards would most likely follow the footprints they left on the sand. As for the boy, he just could not wrap his finger around what just happened.

He yelled, "Wh-What did you just do?"

The ninja replied, "I threw that smoke bomb to distract them so that we could get away. But we left our footprints in the sand, so they would most likely follow us. Now would you think twice before doing something so stupid and reckless like that again?"

"Look I'm sorry, alright? It's just that-"

Suddenly, they heard the same cry again, but it was louder than before.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

As they turned towards the voice's direction, Yun-seong cried, "Ah hell! Something must've happened to Mi-na!"

All of a sudden, the two of them heard the snarls of lizards from behind. The monsters were hot on their trail. Quickly realizing their situation, Taki grabbed Yun-seong's hand as fast as she could and ran in the direction his friend's voice came from. She figured that their best bet is to find her, rescue her, and convince her to help them fight off the lizards.

As they continued to run, they noticed that some sort of stone building was coming into their view. The more they ran towards it, the more the building came into full view. It appeared to be a temple of some kind, and gigantic pillars of rock stood alongside the stone pathway that led to the building's entrance. When the two of them reached the temple courtyard, they noticed that the doors were wide open, and they heard Yun-seong's friend cry again, and the voice came from within the temple itself.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Yun-seong shook his head in disbelief as he shouted, "What? What is Mi-na doing inside a temple like this? It's in the middle of nowhere!"

Taki grabbed his hand again as she yelled, "There's no time to think! We need to get inside! Those lizards are gaining up on us fast!"

Running into the temple, the two of them pushed the two large doors as fast as they could to close the entrance. While they were struggling to get the heavy stone doors to close, the lizard monsters pursuing them had just arrived at the temple courtyard and were closing in on the two warriors fast. Seeing the lizards coming, Taki and Yun-seong pushed harder than ever and finally the doors were near a full close. The lizards leapt at them, trying to stop the doors from closing, but they were too late, as the doors were at a full close.

The monsters banged on the doors, trying to push it open, but the ninja and the boy pushed back to keep them closed. However, more lizards came to the entrance and added more force to the push.

Yun-seong shouted, "It's no use! They're too many of them! We can't hold them off for long!"

Taki quickly looked around and noticed a large iron beam on the floor. Turning back to the two stone doors, she noticed that they each had a hook of some kind, as if they were meant to hold up something to lock the temple from outside. She quickly yelled, "Keep holding them off! I know what to do!"

Swiftly running from the doors, she grabbed the iron beam as fast as she could. It was bit on the heavy side, but she had no time to waste. Yun-seong held the doors close for as long as he could, but his body was starting to become fatigue as the lizards continue to pound their weights on the doors to get them to open. Then Taki came back to the doors, lifted the bar up, brought it over her and Yun-seong's head, and lowered it to set it on the door hooks. The boy quickly moved from his position on the door and helped the ninja in setting the beam into place on the door. As they put the beam in place, they could hear the lizards outside growling and snarling as they continued to try to open the door. But it was no use, as the iron bar held its place, keeping the doors shut. Before long, they could no longer hear the lizards outside anymore, and there was nothing but silence.

Yun-seong fell to his knees on the ground panting. He then asked Taki, "Do you . . . think they're . . . gone now?"

The ninja replied, "I believe so. I can no longer hear them outside." She then walked up to a torch hanging on the wall, which was one of the few sources of light, and lifted it from its resting place. She turned back to the boy and said, "Let's look for your friend. I haven't heard anything in a while and I'm starting to get worried about the safety of your friend. We better find her quickly."

He nodded as he lifted himself off the ground and followed her as she went deeper into the temple.

* * *

**Meanwhile, at the Shrine of Ares, deep inside the temple**

A lizard stood in front of the statue dedicated to the god of war: Ares. This monster had some similarities with the others, as he had a unique color of his skin, which was a mix of beige and purple, wore minimal armor, and wielded a small ax and shield. However, it also had traits that made him different from the rest. He had long, light-red frills on his neck, and fins adorned his legs, spine and tail. And his eyes were not blood red like the others, but a piercing yellow color. He was the leader of all of the lizard monsters.

As he stood before the statue of Ares, the lizard snarled. It was because of that damned priest of that damned god that he is the monster that he was now. He had to endure all of the pain he had gone through because of Kunpaetku's experiments on him. Once he had obtained his soul, he would make Ares pay for all that he had done. The same went for Hephaestus, as well as all of the other gods of Olympus. He would make ALL of them pay.

Suddenly, the lizard heard growls from behind him. He turned and saw two of his lizard subordinates approaching him. As they reached him, one of them dropped a body from his hands. The other dropped a weapon, which was a long halberd. The leader bent down to take a better look at the body. It was a girl with long brown hair that was tied into a braided ponytail, a white bandana around her forehead, and a pair of gold earrings. She wore a small white shirt with green long sleeves that partially showed the bottom of her cleavage and a loose red tie around her neck, a green skirt that was designed with pink flowers and white boots that had a few green trims.

Judging from the wounds that appeared all over her body and the blood that stained her clothes, she was beaten up real badly, but she was still alive and breathing. The lizard leader lifted his head up to his subordinates, who both rapidly nodded their heads, as if they were telling him to go ahead and eat her. He then grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted up her upper body. He then opened his mouth and licked her neck with his tongue. She sure seemed tasty to him.

Retreating his tongue, he brought his teeth closer to her neck and prepared to bite.

* * *

Uh-oh! Is Lizardman (aka Aeon Calcos) really going to eat Seong Mi-na? Will Yun-seong and Taki arrive and save her in time? Find out next time when I upload another awesome chapter, which will hopefully happen soon. So stay tune!


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